
BRINGING IN THE CARIBOU. 



A BOOK OF 

WINTER SPORTS 

AN ATTEMPT TO CATCH THE 
SPIRIT OF THE KEEN JOYS 
OF THE WINTER SEASON 

EDITED BY 

J. C. DIER " 



Ncfo gcrft 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1912 

Ail rights reserved 



Gr.y* 



Copyright, 1912, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1912. 



CONTENTS 



ICE-MOTORING AND ICE-YACHTING 







PAGE 


A New Winter Sport 


Compiled . 


1 


Ice-streaking .... 


C. B. Hayward 


4 


Real Speed and Safety 


C. B. Hayward 


. 11 


Motor Sleds on Saranac Lake 


Scientific American . 


. 15 


Ice- yachting 


The Saturday Review 


. 18 


Ice-yacht Sailing and Racing. 


Archibald Rogers 


. 27 


HOW TO BUILD A SlXTH-CLASS ICE- 






YACHT 


J. Sterling- Bird 


. 32 


The Birth of the Scooter 


J. W. Midler . 


. 41 


Building a Scooter . 


/. W; Muller . 


. 47 


SKATII 


*G 




The Rudiments of Skating 


William T. Richardson 


. 53 


Skating in 1180 .... 


Fitz Step hen 


. 59 


Mr. Winkle on the Ice 


Charles Dickens 


. 60 


Skating for the Little Bear at 






Grindelwald .... 


Daniel P. Rhodes 


. 65 


Figure Skating .... 


J. CD. . 


. 67 


Valsing on the Ice . 


Ernest Law 


. 74 


The Points of Valsing Form . 


Ernest Law 


. 85 


Humors of Skating . 


Reginald Cleaver 


. 92 


Skating in Holland . 




. 96 


Skate-sailing .... 


J. CD. . 


. 101 



CONTENTS 



ICE-HOCKEY 



The Home of Winter Sport 
The Canadian National Game 
" Playing the Puck "... 
The Rules of the Game of Ice- 
hockey 



W. George Beers . 
Charles Patterson 
J. C. Allen . 

Compiled . 



PAGE 

109 
111 
117 

120 



CURLING 



The Game of Curling . 


Christopher Nort? 






125 


The General Rules of the Ga 


me of Curling . 




133 


The Curler Word . 


Timothy Twist 






139 


The Skip 


Rev. John Kerr 






142 


The Jolly Curlers . 


James Hogg 






148 


The Humors of Curling 


Rev. John Kerr 






156 


The Point Game 


Rev. John Kerr 






157 


A Curler's Elegy . 


Robert Burns 






163 



SNOW-SHOEING 



The Key to the Winter Forest . 

A Snoe-shoe Run .... 

The Snow-shoeing Costume . 

A Novice on Snow-shoes 

In the Caribou Country 

On Snow-shoes among Snow-slides 

Snow-shoe Picnicking 

The Activities of a Snow-shoe 

Club 

Storming the Ice Fort . 
" The Old Tuque Bleue " 



Hamilton Wright Mabie 


. 165 


Jean N. Mcllwraith 


. 168 


Compiled 


. 171 


Harold J. Howland 


. 177 


Edwin Sandys 


. 179 


Arthur Hewitt 


. 189 


L. D. Sherman . 


. 192 


J C.I). . 


. 196 


Faith Fenton 


. 199 


W. C. Beers 


. 201 



CONTENTS 



SKIING 



" The Wooden Wings of Norway " 
The Olympic Games of the North 
Ski-jumping in the Holmenkollen 

Games 

A Ski-lobner who became Famous 
Long-distance Runs on Ski . 
Old Ways and New 
A Practical Lesson in Ski-running 
Crossing an Alpine Pass on Ski . 
Carrying Mail over the Andes 

on Ski 

An American Ski Tournament 
Skiing Resorts 



/. CD. 

J. W. Schreiner . 

M. Edmund Spencer 
M. Edmund Spencer 
Mme. von Thiele . 
H. K. Daniels . 
Daniel P. Rhodes 
Arthur Conan Doyle 



J. W. Wisby 
Sumner W. Matieson 
Compiled 



PAGE 

203 
207 



208 

212 
215 
219 
222 
228 

234 
240 
245 



TOBOGGANING 



Memories of a Boy-time Winter 

Coasting 

The Toboggan .... 
A Primitive Coaster 
Tobogganing as a Sport 
A Practical Toboggan Chute 
The Klosters Course at Davos 
The "Cresta" Run at St. Moritz 
Tobogganing on a Swiss Glacier 
Tobogganing by Moonlight . 
Ships of the North 



Emery Pottle 

Compiled 

W.A.D.. 

Jean N. Mcllwraith 



J. C Allen and J. T. Bealby 259 



Walter A. Dyer . 
A. Pitcairn Knowles 
A. Pitcairn Knowles 
Margaret Symonds 
John Addington Symonds 
William T. Allison 



247 
250 
254 
258 



262 
266 

268 
270 
275 
278 



King Winter in his City Home 
The Cariole of the Provinces 



SLEIGHING 

Leon Vandervort 



279 
282 



CONTENTS 



The White Carnival 

Sledging on the Nevsky Pros- 

pekt in Winter . 
The Sledges of Moscow 
Sledge-posting in Switzerland 
The Norwegian Smalslcede . 
Bringing Lorna Home . 





PAGE 


Vance Thompson 


. 283 


Isabel F Hapgood 


. 288 


H. Sutheidand Edwards 


. 291 


John Addington Symonds 


. 296 


Mme. von Thiele 


. 308 


R. D. Black??iore 


. 310 



OTHER ICE AND SNOW SPORTS 



An Ice Gymkhana at Davos 
American Indian Snow-snakes 
Ice Shuffleboard . 
The Ice Carnival . 
Fete de Nuit in Montreal . 
Mr. Pickwick's Famous Slide 
Children's Games on the Snow 
and Ice 



Daniel P. Rhodes 
Stewart Cidin 
F. L. Cooper 
Edwin Wildman 
E. Way El king ton 
Charles Dickens . 

J. CD. . 



319 

321 

327 
330 
334 
336 

339 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



COLORED PLATES 



In the Caribou County . 

A Peasant Boy of Veene on Skates 

Ski-jumping 

Skiers drinking Goosewine . 
Tobogganing made Easy 
Sledging with the " Pristyashka " or Side-horse 
A Winter Sport in July, on Mt. Olympus, 
Washington 



Frontispiece ' 

facing page 96 

« 208 " 

u 232 

" 256 ■' 

« 294 

" 342 



HALF-TONES 

The Old and the New 

An Ice-sleigh in Holland .... 

The Fleet of Scooters on Great South Bay 

Skating in Central Park, New York 

An Ice-palace in Montreal . 

Skate-sailing .... 

A Practice Game of Hockey 

The Curlers .... 

A Snow-shoe Run . 

On Snow-shoes in the North Woods 

A Toboggan Spill . 



facing page 8 * 
24 * / 
48*' 

56 



104 
112 
144 
16S 
176 
248 



y 



LX 



x ILLUSTRATIONS 

Bob-sleighing at St. Moritz .... 

The Nevsky Prospekt in Winter before the Days 

of Electric Trams 

Mrs. Asquith in a Tailing Party at St. Moritz 
A Menominee Indian holding the Snow-snake 

in the Proper Position for a Throw 
The Bounce : a Carnival Courtesy 



facing page 


266^ 


u 


288^ 


" 


304 v 


.. 


324 'i/ 


u 


332/ 



A BOOK OF WINTER SPORTS 



WINTER SPORTS 



A NEW WINTER SPORT 

Speed, swifter and swifter speed, the pleasure in rapid 
motion for its own sake, has accounted for more than one 
of the modern developments of the older forms of winter 
sport. On the snow the tobogganer used to find his pleas- 
ure in the exercise of judgment and skill in handling his 
craft over a course hardly twice alike, being the crust of 
drifted snow; then came at certain European winter re- 
sorts the ice-run, on which skill is still required and high 
speed attained; but also, more common in this country, 
the long safe-guarded " chute," with its breathless drop and 
whirlwind speed as the only sources of excitement. Even 
more on the ice has speed, high speed, been sought. The 
skater fashioned himself a sail; the sail was fitted to a 
frame, and the ice-boater learned the thrill of flying faster 
than the wind that drove him ; and now a new development 
has begun with possibilities of speed almost unbelievable. 

Along with the newer ice-boats remain types like the 
fleet in Toronto Bay. There the boats range from twenty 
to thirty-five feet in length, spread an area of sail of from 
two hundred to six hundred square feet, and are used as 
a continuous winter diversion, frequently by parties of four 
or five. Quite different are the light, steel-skeleton racing 
craft most often seen on the Hudson River and on Ameri- 



2 WINTER SPORTS 

can lakes. Owners of crack ice-yachts will sometimes ship 
their craft a thousand miles for entry in a close race. 

Racing centres are on the Hudson from Tarrytown to 
Poughkeepsie ; on Orange Lake, about five miles back of 
Newburgh; on the two branches of the Shrewsbury River; 
on Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks; and on a circuit of 
western lakes. The official record in an ice-yacht race is 
held by the Wolverine, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a 
distance of twenty miles with a turn every two miles. But 
the Scud on the Shrewsbury is credited with having made a 
mile and a quarter dash in forty- two seconds. At Kingston, 
on the St. Lawrence River, the flyers are the two-sailed 
racing type, and there are exciting brushes between the 
Kingston ice-yachts and those from Cape Vincent on the 
New York side of the river. Great South Bay evolved its 
own type of winter craft for both pleasure and service, and 
has recently added to the all-round human qualities of the 
scooter that of speed by adding the gasoline motor for driv- 
ing power. 

It is the motor which is working a change in ice-speeding, 
of which no one as yet knows the outcome, for the develop- 
ment of the "ice-motor," " ice-streaker," " ice-scooter," 
or whatever it may finally be called has hardly begun. It 
is still in the most elementary experimental stage where 
men are testing all manner of driving gear for its ice-run- 
ning qualities. The contending types are two : the one 
proceeds by pushing the air with a propeller such as is used 
on an aeroplane ; the other by pulling on the ice with one 
or another device from a simple chain around the tire of an 
automobile to a specially designed spiked wheel between 
sled runners. The problems of the propeller type are being 



A NEW WINTER SPORT 3 

worked out on Saranac Lake, where H. Webb Hyde, of 
Boston, began experiments, as related elsewhere, as early 
as 1909. 

The friction type of ice-motor first received serious at- 
tention when, in 191 1, Fred Waters, of Red Bank, stumbled 
into a sensation by putting his runabout on runners with a 
cogged wheel motor driven. It is said that he had no 
thought of its being unusually speedy, but simply aimed 
to take advantage of the better and less obstructed surface 
of the ice as compared with the rough roads. The speed 
of this " auto-sleigh " with an engine of only six horsepower 
was so remarkable that in the next winter he took a Ford 
chassis, placed runners where the front wheels were, and 
rear runners on a three-foot extension of the back of the 
chassis. In place of the tires on the rear wheels are about 
thirty-six sharp steel plates which attend to its propulsion 
when driven by a twenty-two and a half horsepower en- 
gine. This ice-sled is driven exactly as one drives an auto- 
mobile, and runs smoothly ; springs in the front and rear 
make riding comfortable even at the highest speed. Mr. 
Waters believes that he will be able to make almost a mile 
a minute on clear ice, which seems to be about the speed 
developed so far by the propeller type on Saranac Lake. 
Intense interest is being shown in the new sport by both 
veteran ice-yachtsmen and automobile owners who were 
never aboard an ice-boat ; there is no question but that ice- 
motors will soon be thoroughly studied in the manufac- 
turers' designing rooms, and that motor ice-running will 
head the list of winter sports in which speed is a factor. 

More power to it ! ^ . . 7 , 

r — Compiled. 



ICE-STREAKING 

Speed, speed, and still more speed — on the land, in the 
sea, in the air, and under the sea, and now finally — on the 
ice. From its humble role of helping with the chores about 
the farm that was almost its only occupation less than a 
quarter of a century ago, the internal combustion motor 
has revolutionized transportation so completely that 
whether it be on the land or in the water — or even in that 
hitherto mysterious and seemingly impossible fourth di- 
mension, the air, few things go fast nowadays except with 
the aid of gasoline. With the conquest of the air nothing 
remained but Nature's winter highways, the immaculately 
smooth and mathematically level surface of the freshly 
frozen lakes and rivers that man can never hope to equal as 
a speedway. If flying were not already an accomplished 
fact, it would only be necessary to attach elevating planes 
to this latest hybrid of the gasoline motor family that calls 
the ice its native habitat to make it so. But if skimming 
over the glistening, polished surface of a river one hundred 
and twenty miles an hour with less than thirty horsepower 
at one's command, is not actually flying, as we have come to 
know it in the last few years, it at least sets a pace that 
makes the airman look to his laurels and marks the begin- 
ning of a new era in man's struggle of ages to annihilate 
time and distance. And if the crude combination of an 

4 



ICE-STREAKING 5 

ex-motor-boat engine, an aeroplane propeller, and a home- 
made sled with a seat and steering-wheel on it, is capable 
of such an eye-opening performance, what is to be expected 
of a real " ice-motor" with a high-powered motor, an effi- 
cient propeller of the best type, and a "skid" built on 
approved stream-line design to cut the head resistance down 
to the possible minimum? Terms such as motor-car, 
automobile, and chassis are too weak to serve the purpose 
in this connection — they lose their significance utterly 
in the contemplation of the possibilities of what is practi- 
cally level flight, and by the same token that much safer 
than the real thing — unless, of course, one disregards such 
trifling things as obstructions or the well-known habit of 
centrifugal force in setting at naught man's attempts to go 
around corners as fast as he does straightaway. Right, 
there is the beauty of the frozen river or lake — it provides 
a straightaway such as is to be found nowhere else in either 
art or nature, and there are no fences at the sides, or at the 
turns, for it's a long stretch that has no turning to bother 
the pilot of the new " ice-plane" — or " ice-streaker" 
might be better, as more strongly suggesting its capabilities 
as a devour er of distance. . . . 

Ice-boating has long been considered one of the pastimes 
that provided the last drop that was to be had in the way of 
thrills, but even the ice-boat with its mysterious speed so 
much in excess of the wind that drives it has now been 
brought to a more lowly level. And the beauty of it is 
you can enjoy ice-streaking with anything that happens 
to be handy in the way of motive power, provided it feeds 
on gasoline. At least, so one would be led to judge from 
the miscellaneous assortment of ice-travelling apparatus 



6 WINTER SPORTS 

that ornamented the Hudson River from Tarrytown north 
during the unprecedented cold spell of the recent winter, 
which converted its otherwise treacherous surface into a 
solid highway and a free-for-all race course. Just an extra 
set of chains is all that is necessary to convert a motor-car 
into an ice-skimmer, and with that as a starting-point, 
there is no limit to the variety of contraptions that take to 
the ice as naturally as a duck does to water. The gasoline 
motor has even taken possession of the "scooter" that, 
equally at home in the water or on the ice, claims the south 
shore of Long Island as its birthplace. 

The various impromptu race meets that have had the 
Tarrytown lighthouse on the Hudson River as their start- 
ing and finishing point have not alone brought forth a great 
variety of ice travellers, but have likewise been responsible 
for lining up a more variegated assortment of entrants than 
have probably ever been seen before in a single contest. 
In a single heat there have come to the starting-line, two 
horses and sleighs, an ice-boat, and a sixty-horsepower car. 
It is scarcely necessary to record the result — the competi- 
tion naturally narrowed itself down to a test between the 
two representatives of the most primitive form of trans- 
portation, the horses. They raced with each other while 
the ice-boat and the car took a whack at the form of race 
that never seems to lose its novelty — a trial against time, 
each according to its ability as an annihilator of distance. 
While ice is not so effective a roadway as a smooth stretch 
of macadam where traction is concerned, there is no ap- 
parent slippage once the car gets under way, particularly 
if new and close-fitting chains are employed on the drivers. 
A regular course was laid out near Tarrytown over a meas- 



ICE-STREAKING 7 

ured straightaway mile and return, and over this a group 
of the fliers indulged in frequent competitive spurts. . . . 
Of course, ice-racing is always of the " flying start" variety 
— getting a machine under way on the slippery surface 
takes some little time, and if this were to be deducted from 
its running time, the totals made would not be very strik- 
ing. There was accordingly a stretch of a mile or so pro- 
vided for getting under way. The cars started together 
and remained bunched until they reached a point opposite 
the Maxwell factory on the point, where the line had been 
fixed. From there on there was a wild dash for the other 
end, a Mercedes leading all the way and making close to 
seventy-five miles an hour. The river bends a bit above 
the finish line, making a sharp turn necessary on the part 
of the cars, and some of them certainly made a dizzy whirl 
and a grand " sashay" in doing it. Others did the " swing 
your partners" figure there by making three or four com- 
plete revolutions while skidding sidewise. The engineers 
of the fast trains on the New York Central have had to eat 
snow or ice "dust" whenever the cars were on the ice, as 
the appearance of a through flyer was always the signal for 
a brush, and the locomotive always got the worst of it. 

Ice-racing was also a strong feature of the winter sports 
on the Shrewsbury River in the winter of 1911-1912, the 
first in which the new sport was given prominence, and the 
Shrewsbury was the scene of some speed records as well. 
An ex-marine motored ice-streaker or wind-sleigh covered 
eight miles in four minutes. A Ford runabout with runners 
in place of the front wheels and steel-studded rear tires 
showed sixty miles per hour, which is rapid going for such 
a low-powered car, while a wind-sleigh, propelled by a 



8 WINTER SPORTS 

twelve-horsepower Buchet motor and what appeared to be 
an ex-restaurant fan, made forty miles an hour. With a 
more efficient propeller this ice-streaker could undoubtedly 
have done much better, as most of the power was wasted in 
simply fanning the air instead of drawing the machine 
ahead, though even its speed of forty miles an hour demon- 
strates how fast one may travel over the ice with compara- 
tively little power. The polar explorers who proposed the 
use of gasoline-propelled sleighs for reaching ninety degrees 
north latitude several years ago had really hit upon a more 
practical vehicle for the purpose than was generally real- 
ized at the time. 

Naturally the coefficient of friction between the combina- 
tion of rubber and steel and the mirror-like surface of the 
ice falls far short of being as good as the ordinary smooth 
tire on a paved road, so that while there may be no great 
amount of slip apparent when the machine is travelling at 
high speed, there is actually a substantial loss of power at 
the rear wheels. The same motor that drives the sixty- 
horsepower car at sixty-five to seventy miles per hour on 
the ice, would give it more than double the speed by apply- 
ing the power more economically. This accounts for the 
variegated results of inventive ingenuity which were dis- 
played on the Hudson and Shrewsbury rivers during the 
cold January of 191 2. There were light cars and heavy 
cars, with wheels and without them, some with only the 
front wheels replaced by runners, the drivers being relied 
on as usual. Others with five wheels — a chain-driven 
spiked driver, designed to dig into the ice slightly as it 
revolved, relieving the usual drivers of their ordinary func- 
tions. Still others with four runners and a pair of spiked 



ICE-STREAKING 9 

wheels in place of the usual drivers — the combinations 
were apparently unending. 

But the display of real ingenuity appeared in the ice- 
streakers, — no other term seems to fit them quite so well, 
— for one and all appeared to be possessed of the ability 
to develop the greatest speed with the least power. Home- 
made, of course, — every one of them bearing the earmarks 
of the experimenting "kitchen mechanic," who is so often 
hard put to it to devise effective parts out of materials never 
intended for the purpose. One of these makeshifts which 
proved to have plenty of "go" in it, despite its clumsy and 
lumbering appearance, had as its motive power the single 
cylinder engine of an old "one-lunger" runabout of the 
vintage of about 1904. This was mounted on a frame of 
heavy scantlings which probably weighed as much as did 
the runabout itself when in its palmiest days. The runners 
appeared to be "Brobdingnagian replicas" of the usual Dutch 
wooden shoe, shod on the bottom with common strap iron. 
There were three of these, with the apex of this novel three- 
point support at the rear just under the pilot's seat, and it 
served as a "steering skate." Two ordinary low buggy 
wheels with their tires ornamented with ice hooks were 
mounted on a cross- axle just back of the motor, and the 
latter drove this novel transmission by means of a chain. 
It might be called an ice-friction type, the friction surface 
being automatically renewed by nature as fast as it wore 
out. Such a contrivance would never be popular with the 
skating fraternity, however, except where there was an un- 
limited expanse of ice for it to work its surface-destroying 
propensities upon, and this is equally true of all the numer- 
ous forms which depended upon spiking the ice for their 



io WINTER SPORTS 

tractive power. They might serve as markers for the ice- 
harvester and thus invade another field in which the gaso- 
line motor has not as yet succeeded in replacing the one 
driven by hay, oats, and a flow of language. As a fuel 
tank, the old one-lunger with the buggy- wheel drive had a 
common five-gallon gasoline can and a piece of garden hose, 
while its ignition equipment was the same as that with 
which it originally appeared. At burning up the road, such 
a miscellaneous assortment of discarded odds and ends 
would not cut much of a figure, in fact the old runabout 
when at its best did not have a cruising speed much in ex- 
cess of twenty miles an hour. But as an ice-streaker it was 
a winner in its class and could give points to the ice-boats. 
What is more, it didn't run hot despite the fact that the 
motor had been robbed of most of the cooling apparatus 
with which it had been equipped originally — and running 
hot was its long suit before its native habitat had been 
transferred from the road to the ice. It had the reputation 
of being able to overheat under any condition that its owner 
might want to run it — except that of coasting down a long 
hill with the motor dead. _ c R hayward. 

By permission of the publishers of MoToR. Copyright 1912. 



REAL SPEED AND SAFETY 

None of the friction-driven type of ice-motors are of the 
greatest success when it comes to real speed. They can 
go and go fast, with far less power proportionately than the 
most efficient of modern motor cars when used on the ice. 
They are a great deal safer on the ice, moreover, for their 
weight is only a fraction of that of a fully equipped, high- 
powered car, and their speed is usually high enough to take 
them over uncertain places that would be risky, to say the 
least, for a heavy machine. For these two reasons inter- 
esting developments of the ice-streaker are to be expected, 
and it will unquestionably prove a popular class of ice 
racers in the winter sports of the future. 

But when it comes to speed — real speed, the kind that 
can be said legitimately to annihilate time and distance — 
the hybrid that is really an ice-aeroplane without wings 
must be awarded the palm. This is nothing more or less 
than an aeroplane propeller and a gasoline motor on runners 
— the other details do not seem to count very much. The 
propeller is chain-driven from the motor so that its speed 
is two or three times that of the latter. It all depends on 
the propeller, of course, but the combination is such a 
speedy one, regardless of how it is put together, that a high 
degree of science in its design is not essential to its success 
at the present stage of the development of the sport. Of 



12 WINTER SPORTS 

course, it has to have a seat for the " ice-mo torneer" and 
some form of steering gear — the simpler the better; its 
irreversibility will not count for much. The less it is used 
when counting off the miles at the rate of two per minute, 
the more chances there will be of arriving right side up and 
all shipshape, Bristol fashion, at the finish. 

Whether it is two miles a minute or a mile in two minutes, 
streaking it over the ice is no sport for the weakling. The 
conditions are about on a par with those encountered by 
the aviator, who, by the way, must be counted in " among 
those present" on the ice of the Hudson River in February, 
191 2. The Wright biplane fitted with hydroplanes or 
pontoons is amphibious and likewise "icephibious." One 
of them demonstrated its ability to travel on the water, 
on the ice, or in the air, which would be of no small advan- 
tage to the man at the helm of an ice-streaker who was not 
sure of his ground — ice, rather. Brakes usually take the 
form of sprays or spikes, but it takes a certain amount of 
time and distance to bring a ton weight, travelling at a 
speed of 195 feet a second, to a stop, so it would be a real 
comfort to be able to rise a bit and skip over a hole, instead 
of having to make a frantic effort to use the brakes, or take 
one's chances with centrifugal force by attempting to go 
around it. 

But then you cannot have extremes of speed and safety 
too — they do not go together. The addition of support- 
ing planes to the ice-streaker would cut its travelling ability 
in half or reduce it even more. 

In fact, there is something about a big, glistening expanse 
of ice that affects the senses and brings on a form of insanity, 
the chief symptom of which is a tendency to indulge in 



REAL SPEED AND SAFETY 13 

foolhardy performances. It exhibits itself in other ways, 
too, but in none so plainly as this. We always have with 
us the man who rocks the boat and the perennially recurring 
specimen who didn't know it was loaded. Maybe they are 
one and the same, and the rock-the-boat idiot of warmer 
weather is the man who is always desirous of learning 
whether blow-holes and thin places in the ice will really 
hold, or are only apparently dangerous. 

The manifestation of this mania was bad enough before 
the day of the motor on the ice, but armed with this such 
a man becomes doubly dangerous to himself and to any one 
foolish enough to trust his life with him. In a thickly set- 
tled community, such as borders the lower Hudson, one 
cannot expect weather cold enough to insure the freezing 
of a solid surface from shore to shore for any distance. 
The current of the Hudson River is very swift at places, 
due to the differing conformation of the shore lines, while 
at others there are streams of warmer water flowing across 
the current, and representing the discharge from the out- 
lets of trunk waste lines. These and similar causes tend to 
form weak spots in unexpected locations. 

Yet there are never lacking those who will take the chance 
just to be able subsequently to enlarge upon such an ex- 
ploit as the trip from Tarrytown to Newburgh on the ice of 

the Hudson made by , of the former place in his 

Cadillac. Now any full-fledged touring car is a heavy weight 
when it comes to navigating an unknown stretch of ice, as 
it is only once or twice in a generation that the Hudson 
freezes solidly enough in its lower stretch from Peekskill 
down to permit of going on the ice in a car at all. Such a 
thing as travelling it in an automobile was accordingly an 



i 4 WINTER SPORTS 

unheard-of event. The round trip covers a distance of 
about seventy miles, and it was made in about three and a 
half hours, which was excellent time, considering the nu- 
merous difficulties met with. In many places there were 
fissures in the ice which made the going precarious. At one 
point, between Bannerman's Island and Storm King Moun- 
tain, beneath which the great siphon for New York's new 
water system passes, the car came near turning turtle in 
attempting to surmount an ice hummock. Hardly had 
this happened when a fissure had to be jumped. For- 
tunately it was visible for some distance ahead so that the 
car was brought to a stop before running into it. The dis- 
tance was easy enough for a man to hop across, but wheels 
don't hop — at least not automobile wheels at any rate. 
Either to preserve his own skin 'or to prevent his machine 
from being damaged, the average motorist would have 
looked for a way around, or called it record enough for the 
day and have gone back to the starting-point. But with 
this man it was evidently " Newburgh or bust." The car was 
run back for about half a mile, and then let out at full speed 
in the attempt to jump the gap. The forward wheels landed 
safely on the solid ice of the other side, but the greater 
weight of the rear end of the car caused it to sag so that 
the driving wheels struck the edge of the opening with full 
force and were submerged to their hubs, which, of course 
was good for the wheels. Fortunately a quick change of 
gears and clever work with the throttle enabled the car to 

pull itself out of the hole. „ _. TT 

F — C. B. Haywood. 

By permission of the publishers of MoToR. Copyright 1912. 



MOTOR SLEDS ON SARANAC LAKE 

The charm of great speed is one that appeals to almost 
every one, and many a man would delight in a racing auto- 
mobile were it not for the danger and expense; but the 
motor ice- sled offers terrific speed along with perfect safety 
and at a comparatively slight drain on the purse. In fact, 
if one has an automobile from which the engine may be 
used, the expense can be kept very low indeed. But do not 
think that rushing up and down a ten-mile lake at full 
speed is the only fun that may be derived from one of these 
machines. To run up a lake towing a toboggan or two and 
have a winter picnic on the shore of some island is to live 
a real day ; or to glide lazily in and out among the throngs 
of skaters with a machine that obeys the slightest touch on 
the throttle or wheel is such a simple but yet pleasing ex- 
perience that the automobile seems forever after dull. 

The first experiment in motor ice-boating at Saranac 
Lake was made in the winter of 1909 by H. Webb Hyde of 
Boston. He installed a six-horsepower engine in the hull 
of an old experimental hydroplane, and with a propeller 
roughly hewn from a single stick, he obtained a speed of 
thirty miles per hour. The following winter, J. Benson 
Marvin, Jr., of Louisville, and Charles S. Palmer of New 
York, joined forces with Mr. Hyde. They increased the 
horsepower to ten and constructed a more efficient fan with 
is 



16 WINTER SPORTS 

which a speed of forty-five miles per hour was obtained. 
The next year they built a sled entirely of iron and equipped 
with a thirty-horsepower, six-cylinder, air-cooled engine. 
The only official time trial of the machine was run on ice 
covered with a coating of snow. But despite this handicap 
a three-quarter-mile straight course was made in twenty- 
nine seconds, or ninety-one miles per hour. . . . 

The early sled, built from the hydroplane hull, is called 
the "Amphibia," for with its boat-like body it is equally 
at home iD the water and on the ice. The large one incurred 
the name of "Blasphemia" during the progress of forging 
the front runners. There are two sets of runners — the 
main sled forward, which carries one thousand of the twelve 
hundred pounds total weight — and a pair of steering run- 
ners in the rear. The bob was originally built with but a 
single runner in the rear, but with this construction the 
control was so uncertain that two runners were afterward 
adopted. The front sled is made of two by three-inch angle 
iron, and it is the edge of the three-inch side that runs on 
the ice. The bearing surface is seven feet long and the 
tread five feet. The runners are joined by arches of the 
same material. On the crown of these arches are bolted 
four sets of semi-elliptic springs, and these support the 
main frame. The rear runners are two feet long, cut from 
five by five-eighths inch bar iron. They are bolted through 
the centre to rods of one and one-half inches diameter that 
run up through the frame, and above the frame are bent 
toward each other to form tillers. These tillers are con- 
nected by flexible bronze rope to the drum on the steering 
wheel. The toes of the runners are linked together by a 
cross-bar of gas-pipe, so that they must always remain 



MOTOR SLEDS ON SARANAC LAKE 17 

parallel. Each of the steering-rods runs through a coil 
spring, and these springs carry the rear weight of the sled, 
or about two hundred pounds. The omission of springs 
is the greatest error that the novice usually makes; for 
high speed is impossible in an absolutely rigid frame, and 
even the smoothest ice has some bumps. The main frame 
is made of three-inch channel iron hot-riveted together. It 
is twenty-three feet long and twenty-six inches wide and 
has suitable trussing. 

The engine is placed centrally over the forward sled and 
is tipped at an angle of four degrees. It is connected to the 
shaft by a universal joint which allows three degrees more ; 
so that the driving shaft has an angle of inclination of seven 
degrees to the horizontal. This inclination raises the rear 
end of the shaft sufficiently to allow clearance for an eight- 
foot propeller. Inclining the shaft in this manner is not 
only simpler, but is much more efficient than driving the 
propeller with a chain from a horizontal shaft. 

A number of propellers are always kept on hand. They 
are of various sizes and shapes, from a thin slender stick of 
wood seven feet long with very small blade area, but with a 
pitch designed to give one hundred and twenty miles per 
hour, to a propeller eight feet long with blades eighteen 
inches wide, giving them a tremendous area and a very 
strong thrust, but having a pitch designed to give thirty 
miles per hour. This propeller is used when running the 
ice-boat out to the lake. Besides the propellers, it is also 
necessary to have an additional set of runners, as the thin 
ice-runners would be entirely unsuitable for travelling over 
snow-covered roads. _ Scientific American. 

By permission of the publishers of the Scientific American. 



ICE-YACHTING 

Ice-boating is the king of American winter sports. To 
those who have never seen ice-boats the records of their 
achievements in the way of speed read like the wildest 
dreams of Jules Verne, and a description of the sport of 
sailing on one sounds like the ravings of a lunatic. By him 
who has mounted the windward runner of one of these 
skeleton craft and felt her suddenly rush forward over the 
ice, while the swirling blast heeled her over until he was 
lifted high into the air and felt as if he could, by loosening 
his hold of the shrouds, swing far off into the measureless 
air, the sensations are never to be forgotten. Now the 
boat, fanned by a moderate breeze forward of her beam, 
glides peacefully and smoothly along the dark surface of 
the ice. Now she is put about, and with a strong wind on 
her quarter, she dashes madly forward. The black ice, 
with the bubbles of the water underneath clearly visible, 
and the cracks here and there, becomes a dark gleaming 
mass, silvered over with lines of flying white. The iron 
runners whisper a humming song as they skim over the 
ice. Now she strikes a windrow, and the scales of white ice 
go flying in every direction. Now the wind is on the beam, 
and the boat " rears" until her windward runner is at an 
angle of forty-five degrees; and again she rights herself, 
and the man who stands upon the runner-plank, clinging to 



ICE-YACHTING 19 

the weather-stays, feels as if he had left half of himself up 
in the air from which he has just descended with such an 
indescribable sensation. Now the sky darkens; clouds 
sweep up from the horizon ; the wind comes tearing down 
the gray mountain sides, bearing in its bosom that mad 
whirl of blinding white called a snow squall. The sharp 
blast strikes you in the face and stings ; the driving, pitiless 
snow beats into your eyes; the wind howls and whistles 
through the wire rigging, striking it into music that has all 
the wild dissonance of the ^Eolian harp. The stricken 
craft starts and shivers and bounds forward into the midst 
of all the strife and writhing of snow and wind, and you are 
swept onward at top speed through the gloom. The wind 
roars out of the mainsail, as yonder comes the Albany ex- 
press train, thundering along the riverside fifty miles an 
hour. The engineer may throw open his throttle-valve, 
and send his engine to its greatest speed. He can manage 
seventy miles an hour, and the train rocks and reels and 
roars over the steel rails. But you are gliding in an en- 
chanted land. As steadily and as easily and as lightly as 
yonder bird you skim along, and even the mighty engine 
falls behind ; for are you not on an ice-boat ? And seventy 
miles an hour becomes a gentle pace beside your wondrous 
flights at eighty and even ninety ! 

Before going further into an account of this marvellous 
sport, it is natural to inquire, what is an ice-boat ? Make- 
shifts have been attempted both in America and elsewhere 
(we believe) by help of cutter-yachts of small size shod 
along the keel with steel runners. These, however, are 
clumsy and inartistic. The true ice-boat is a thing by 
itself. Englishmen looked with astonishment and distrust 



20 WINTER SPORTS 

at the first American trotting- wagon, with its light body 
and web-like running gear. What could they say to a 
yacht whose total weight was eight hundred and fifty 
pounds ? It seems incredible, yet such is the weight of an 
ice-yacht measuring fifty feet over all. She consists of 
only a few but strong timbers, sitting close to the ice and 
looking for all the world like a huge water-spider, with a 
sail on her back. The chief timbers of an ice-yacht are ar- 
ranged in the form of the letter T. The perpendicular 
line of the letter represents the centre timber, which runs 
from the foot of the mast to the stern of the boat. The 
horizontal line of the letter represents the runner-plank, 
on each end of which is an iron runner very much like a 
large skate. Indeed it is usually called a runner-skate. On 
the top of the runner-plank is the mast-bench, in which 
the mast is stepped. From the stern end of the centre 
timber side rails run diagonally to points about halfway 
between the mast and the ends of the runner-plank. One 
or two braces cross the centre timber from one side rail to 
the other. Mortised into the forward end of the centre 
timber is the heel of the bowsprit. In order to get an idea of 
the proportions of an ice-yacht we here give the dimensions 
of a good-sized boat that sails on the Hudson : length of 
centre timber, 26 feet 9 inches; length of runner-plank, 19 
feet 3 J inches; length over all, 50 feet 10 inches; sail area, 
5382 s Q uare f eet ; requisite thickness of ice for sailing, 4 
inches ; cost of building, $450. 

We have purposely omitted three of the main parts of 
the hull of an ice-yacht. These are the runners and the 
rudder. The runners are fastened between chocks of white 
oak by an iron bolt which acts as a pivot, allowing the 



ICE-YACHTING 21 

runner- skates free play up and down like a rocker. This 
is of course very necessary in passing over uneven spots 
in the ice. A rubber spring is frequently inserted over the 
skate to ease the jolting. The runner-skate is made of 
white oak shod with iron. The whole contrivance looks 
very much like the profile of a foot with a skate on it. The 
curve in front is high to admit of easy passage over rough 
spots. The iron is bevelled and must be quite sharp. All 
first-class yachts have two sets of runners, one very sharp 
for smooth ice and strong winds, the other somewhat 
duller for rough or soft ice and light winds. The boat is 
steered by a rudder-skate. This is a runner like the others, 
set on the end of a rudder-post and turned by a tiller, as 
in a water-boat. This skate must be very sharp, in order 
to take a good hold on the ice. The boat has a small 
cockpit — or box, as it is called — for the accommodation 
of the helmsman. This completes the hull, which, it will 
be seen at once, is a mere skeleton. The timbers are usually 
of white pine, ash, or spruce, and may be oiled, decorated, 
or mounted with nickel plate and brass trimmings, accord- 
ing to the owner's taste and means. The rig is usually 
that of a sloop- jib and mainsail, though the cat-rig, consist- 
ing of mainsail alone, is not uncommon. The lateen rig 
has been tried with success, but the sloop-rig maintains its 
position as the favorite. The standing rigging is generally 
constructed of the best wire rope, and the running rigging 
is made as simple as possible. The appearance of one of 
these boats is much like that of a catamaran. The skeleton- 
like construction of the hull, the smallness of the deckroom, 
the low position of the bowsprit and its utter lack of "steve" 
(or lift), all combine to give the boat this appearance. The 



22 WINTER SPORTS 

jib is very wide and runs far out in front, the hoist of the 
gaff at the peak is knowing, and the boom projects aft in a 
significant manner. The whole cut and build of the boat 
makes her look like just what she is, — a racing machine, 
pure and simple. The expert yachtsman who had never 
before seen an ice-boat would, at the first glance, decide 
that one of these vessels had light heels. 

From what has been said of an ice-boat's speed it may be 
inferred that accidents are numerous. Such, however, is 
not the case. At the present time so great is the skill of 
ice-yachtsmen that a mishap of any kind worse than a 
frost-bite is rare. The sailing of an ice-yacht is totally 
different from that of an ordinary water-craft. The best 
sailor who ever manned a wheel would find himself at a loss 
on an ice-boat until he had learned her peculiarities. Her 
sheets are always hauled in and her mainsail trimmed flat 
aft. If the wind is on the beam and is so strong as to make 
her sail sideways or "rear up" too much, the boom is some- 
times let off a foot or two. The steering of an ice-boat is a 
novelty to an old sailor. She minds her helm so easily, 
and the helm itself is so easily turned, that at first one is 
filled with wonder ; yet when one remembers that there is no 
rudder ploughing through heavy opposing masses of water, 
but only a hard, sharp piece of iron gliding over a surface 
of perfect smoothness, it does not seem so strange after all. 
The helmsman, then, needs a cool head. Too sudden a 
twist of the tiller, when flying over the ice, will spin an ice- 
boat round almost on her own centre, and will probably re- 
sult in hurling her crew off into space. Steering among 
obstacles, such as hummocks or cracks, requires the great- 
est care. First the boat is headed so as to spill (or lose) the 



ICE-YACHTING 23 

wind, and then she is run across the crack at right angles so 
that both runners will go over it at once. The speed of an 
ice-boat makes it necessary in cases of emergency to have 
a way of stopping her quickly. Of course she can be 
stopped, and generally is, by running her into the wind's 
eye. She can be stopped suddenly by luffing into the wind 
and then turning the rudder-skate straight across the stern, 
when it scrapes the ice and acts as a brake. An ice-boat 
going at an ordinary rate of speed can thus be stopped in 
twice her own length, but this method is a great strain on 
the boat, and is employed only in cases of great need. An 
ice-yacht is anchored offshore by heading her into the wind, 
loosening the jib-sheets and turning the rudder crosswise. 
To start an ice-yacht from this position, the jib-sheet is 
hauled in, the stern is swung round, and she is pushed until 
the sails fill. The helmsman is the only person who occu- 
pies the box or cockpit. The crew stand on the windward 
runner and balance themselves by holding the shrouds. 
This keeps the windward side down, and relieves the lee 
runner of some of the strain. Of course when the wind is 
high, she needs more weight in the box to keep the rudder 
well down on the ice and prevent her from sliding to leeward. 
Ice-boats sometimes capsize, but the motion is very easy, 
and the crew are dropped off on the ice very quietly. An 
ice-boat of tens runs a considerable distance on her lee runner 
and rudder. She is blown into this position by a very heavy 
wind, and when she elevates her bow in this way, she is 
said to "rear up." A clever sailor can keep her poised so 
for some time. Of course she must be eased or she will go 
over. There are two ways of easing her. If beating to 
windward, she may be righted by luffing, as an ordinary 



24 WINTER SPORTS 

water-boat would be. If running with the wind, she may 
be eased by paying off the sheet. Then the windward 
runner sweeps down, and the man who stands on it, as it 
drops out of the air while it is tearing forward at enormous 
speed, learns that there are more things in heaven and earth 
than were dreamed of in his philosophy. The boat will 
occasionally run upon thin ice and break in, but this is not 
a serious matter. The lee runner cuts through the ice and 
stops her headway, and she then upsets before her stern 
is off the sound ice. 

The season for this sport, unhappily for those who love 
it, is, in the vicinity of New York, usually very short. 
Sixteen good days in the course of a winter form an ordinary 
season. In a hard winter the ice-boats hold high carnival 
on the Hudson and Shrewsbury rivers all the winter. 

The yachtsman's costume may not be picturesque, but 
it is serviceable. He wears a leather coat, or several cardi- 
gan jackets under a heavy pea-jacket ; his trousers are tied 
around the ankles or else tucked into the legs of woollen 
hose ; he wears linen drawers over woollen ones ; he has a 
good pair of " arctics" on his feet and a fur cap pulled down 
over his ears. When snow is flying, he has fine wire goggles 
over his eyes, and a wire covering for his mouth. In spite 
of all this the ice-yachtsman sometimes suffers from frost- 
bites. He always wonders how he got them; for, in the 
enthusiasm and wild excitement of sailing, he never felt 
cold for a single moment. 

There is one other point in the sailing of an ice-boat ; but 
we must consider it in connection with her speed. This 
speed is simply marvellous ; and to those who have never 
seen an ice-boat dart away and shrink to a speck on the 



ICE-YACHTING 25 

horizon in a few minutes, it is wholly incredible. Yet the 
facts exist. On February 12, 1879, the Lucille, owned by 
Captain Winslow, sailed from Poughkeepsie to New Ham- 
burg, a distance of nine miles, in seven minutes and ten sec- 
onds. The Comet, Phantom, Zephyr, and Magic sailed in 
company ten miles in ten minutes, and most of the time 
so great was the wind that the windward runners of the 
boats were elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees. 

Now how are we to account for this speed? Several 
facts must be noticed. In the first place we must take into 
account the very small friction of the vessel on the ice. 
Moreover, such heat as is generated by this friction is at 
once absorbed by the ice. Again the ice-boat never makes 
leeway except in very high winds. If put directly before 
the wind, she will, of course, sail no faster than the wind 
blows. If it is a breeze of fifteen miles an hour, the boat 
will sail at that rate. The peculiar phenomenon of running 
out of the wind when sailing free sometimes occurs when 
the wind is gusty. A sudden blast drives the boat ahead, 
and then there is a lull when, for a moment, the boat runs 
faster than the wind, and consequently her sails flap idly 
for want of the breeze, which has been left behind. The 
ice-boat's better course is with the wind on the beam, be- 
cause thus she constantly has the full force of the breeze 
exerted on her sails and increasing her speed. Moreover, 
the ice-boat always tacks in going to leeward as well as to 
windward. The greatest possible speed can be gotten out 
of her when she is sailing with the wind on her quarter. On 
this course she has a constant forward push on her sails, 
and, as she goes diagonally along the track of the wind, she 
is less retarded by the resistance of the air than on any other 



26 WINTER SPORTS 

course. Hence an ice-boat in sailing ten miles to the south- 
ward with a northerly wind will take a zigzag course, run- 
ning alternately to the southeast and the southwest, and 
will reach her destination very much more quickly than by 
sailing a direct course. This is probably the only case in 
which a straight line is not the shortest distance between 
two points. The greatest speed of the ice-boats is not re- 
corded, because it always occurs when no one is expecting 
it. The boat seldom sails in a straight line for even a mile. 
When working to windward, which is her worst course, she 
will make from ten to fifteen miles an hour. When beating 
to leeward, as it is called, or sailing with the wind abeam, 
she goes at times at the rate of from eighty to one 
hundred miles an hour. And the man who has never been 
in an ice-boat before finds that his sensations are of a nature 
beyond the power of words to describe. 

— The Saturday Review, London. 



ICE-YACHT SAILING AND RACING 

There is no question in my mind that, given an abso- 
lutely smooth surface of ice of sufficient area and extent, 
and a wind of the proper velocity, an almost unlimited 
speed might result. I see no reason why under such con- 
ditions, an ice-yacht could not be driven at the rate of one 
hundred miles an hour. But sailing on the Hudson River, 
whose average width is not over three-quarters of a mile, ne- 
cessitates keeping a course clear of each bank, which means 
that much loss of speed occurs. ... A good many years 
ago I laid off a course one mile long, accurately surveyed, 
and with a beam wind several yachts, which are very much 
inferior in speed to those existing to-day and much smaller 
in size, sailed repeatedly over a measured mile, when the 
average speed for at least ten trials was a mile in fifty-nine 
seconds. However, there is no question as to the speed of 
an ice-yacht, neither is there any doubt that they can and 
do sail faster than the wind. . . . 

Many men I have known can sail an ice-boat passably 
well. Some of them are excellent helmsmen when it comes 
to a racing or cruising yacht on water, but somehow or 
other they do not get the knack of sailing an ice-yacht 
properly. Now why should it be difficult to sail the latter 
if you understand sailing the former ? Well, the difficulty 
lies in this fact, that the whole secret consists in sailing her 



2% WINTER SPORTS 

to leeward. Anybody at all conversant with helmsman- 
ship, as applied to water-sailing, can get on an ice-yacht 
for the first time and sail her to windward. 

A hearty laugh has arisen from teasing some novice into 
taking out a small ice-yacht. We say the wind is not too 
strong, and that it is from the north, and he is told to get 
aboard and sail up the river for a mile or so and then turn 
around and come back. We tell him, with absolute truth, 
that he will have no difficulty in sailing. We remark casu- 
ally that perhaps he won't come back so very fast, but he 
will get up there all right; and true enough he will. He 
will have no difiiculty at all in going up to windward, and 
this naturally gives him confidence, and he says to himself, 
"This is very easy; anybody can sail an ice-yacht." 

He reaches the place where he should turn around and 
come back to receive the congratulations of his friends, who 
are awaiting with much pleasure his return. Up goes his 
helm, and immediately the boat he thought was so easy to 
sail starts off at a terrific rate of speed, and he begins to 
lose a little confidence. His first impulse is to stop, espe- 
cially as he sees himself rapidly approaching the opposite 
shore. He luffs up into the wind, but as she does not stop 
he goes on the other tack. He gets out into the middle of 
the river and says, "I will just turn and come back," so 
he pays her off again, when the same performance recurs. 
She immediately develops a high rate of speed ; he is run- 
ning toward the other shore much too fast for pleasure, and 
now he says to himself, "I will just sail her easy and then 
try to throw her right off." 

So, by this time having gone far beyond the point at 
which he desired to turn around, he starts very slowly. 



ICE-YACHT SAILING AND RACING 29 

We will say he succeeds in getting his yacht before the wind, 
but the chances are the action was so sudden that she has 
not only gone off before the wind, but she has come right 
around back on the wind again, with a very strong proba- 
bility that the unfortunate tyro has parted company with 
his craft. Let us assume that he has done so and that he 
regains his charge with perhaps a somewhat diminished 
confidence in his own powers of sailing. Things don't 
look quite so easy as they did. He begins to think : "Well, 
I will try this again, but one thing is sure, and that is, I 
must stay aboard." So, starting again after several un- 
successful attempts to wear off before the wind (during 
which he is perhaps now double the distance from home), he 
does succeed in getting his boat directly before the wind, but 
he finds that she hardly moves. He sees other yachts with 
laughing occupants sailing in circles all around him, travel- 
ling at a high rate of speed off the wind and on the wind, and 
he endeavors to imitate their example. 

One minute he is tearing along forty miles an hour, and 
the next minute is not sailing at all, until finally, we see 
him strip off his coat, get down to his shirt sleeves, and with 
perspiration running down his face, ignominiously push 
his yacht toward home, where he knows he is sure to meet 
his jeering and smiling friends. 

This is not an exaggerated picture at all. It has happened 
repeatedly, and that is why, although almost any one can 
sail to windward, sailing before the wind requires a special 
education. Let us see if I can make this plain. 

In the first place an ice-yacht always has her sails trimmed 
flat, very flat, under the conditions of an average moderate 
breeze blowing up or down the course desired to be sailed 



3 o WINTER SPORTS 

over. The trend of the Hudson River (where most of our 
sailing is done) is practically north and south, and therefore 
northerly or southerly breezes are the best, since they give 
true windward and leeward work. Now it may be asked 
why the sails should be trimmed so close, or why in going 
free, the mainsail should not be slacked off, as is the case 
in water sailing. 

It can be easily understood that if, when running before 
the wind, the mainsail were slacked off at right angles to 
the direction of the wind, the speed of the yacht to leeward 
would not be greater than the wind. But it has been proved 
beyond question that an ice-yacht can travel faster than 
the wind, and we know that to reach a given point to lee- 
ward as quickly as possible the angle of the boat and the 
angle of her sails with the wind must be one hundred and 
fifty degrees, or, in other words, about thirteen points from 
the wind ; and that under these conditions the advance to 
leeward would be one and one half times that of the 
wind itself. To make that angle good it is plain that the 
sails must be trimmed fiat aboard. . . . 

It is impossible at times to prevent a sudden sharp luff 
into the wind during squalls, when a yacht is liable to rear 
up ; that is, the windward runner is Hf ted high into the air 
and the yacht runs along frequently without minding her 
rudder. Some yachts, though, when nicely balanced 
(even though they are reared up), can be steered under 
these conditions, and when the trick is earned, one can 
raise and lower the windward runner at will, dropping it 
down so gently that no jar at all is felt. Others again 
come down very often with sufficient force to break the 
runner-plank in two. 



ICE-YACHT SAILING AND RACING 31 

It may be asked : "Why do not the yachts upset or blow 
over when their windward runners are high in the air, al- 
most at right angles to the ice?" They do sometimes; 
but if a yacht has good way on, it goes over so far, and then 
the end of the main boom bears on the ice and prevents it's 
capsizing. But should the yacht slow up by reason of run- 
ning into either shell ice or soft spots, the chances are that 
over she goes, until the end of the mast strikes the ice. 
However, she is easily righted, and if nothing has been 
broken, is soon sailing again as if nothing had happened, 
and the crew have no wet jackets to think about. 

— Archibald Rogers. 

Outing, March, 1907. 



HOW TO BUILD A SIXTH-CLASS ICE-YACHT 

In building an ice-yacht, the first thing is to make up 
your mind what the cost is to be. Don't get the idea that 
a good one can be built for almost nothing ; but they can 
be built for a reasonable price, especially if the owner does 
all the work, except the sails and perhaps the runners. 

Order materials and fittings at the same time to avoid 
delay, and do not wait until late in the season; for, while 
most of the work can be done in the barn, the whole boat 
has to be set up outdoors to see that everything fits in place, 
splicing halyards, etc., before putting on the ice. Never 
set up your boat on the ice for the first time unless your 
barn or shop is right on the shore. 

The very best material for backbone and runner-plank is 
butternut, but if that cannot be obtained, use white pine. 
For spars get spruce. . . . 

The first thing to make is the backbone, which must be 
eight or ten feet. Nowadays it is next to impossible to get 
one stick of timber long enough, so a splice is necessary, and 
the place for making it will have to be decided by your 
lumber. After fitting up your joint, put it together with 
the best waterproof glue, and half -inch lag screws from the 
under side only. The finished backbone should measure 
eight inches deep at the mast, and taper, on the top side 
only, to six inches at the stern, the bottom being perfectly 
32 



HOW TO BUILD A SIXTH-CLASS ICE YACHT 33 




Bronze blocks : 

1 and 10 No. D Becket Single 

2 and 4 No. G Single 

3 and 9 No. D Single 

5 No. D Becket Double 

6 No. D Double 

7 No. G Becket Single 
No. C Double 



fc=! 



E3 



Design for Sixth-class Ice-yacht 



Mast 22' o" 
Head 3" 
Centre 5" 
Foot 3" 



SPAR DIMENSIONS 

Gaff 10' 8" 

Peak 2|" 

Centre 3" 

Throat 2" 



Boom 16' 3" 
After-end 3" 

Centre 4" 
At mast 2\" 



In this cut are given all measurements for the proper placing of each part, and 
they should be followed exactly, for on the relative position of mast and runner- 
plank depends the easy handling qualities of a boat. Sail can be ordered from 
dimensions given. 



34 



WINTER SPORTS 



straight. The sides also should be six inches thick, running 
straight from the mast aft. The bowsprit should be cut 
to four by four, tapered on all sides. Round the nose and 
tail for the loops in the wire guys. 

The cockpit cannot be made too strong, as most of the 
rack comes there. Have the rims made of oak covered with 
cherry. They should be bent in pairs, as by so doing they 




Deck Plan and Cockpit Detail 
These drawings show the construction of the cockpit and where it is placed on 
the backbone, also the manner of trussing the boat with side guys. Be sure the 
plank and backbone are square. 

will fit when put together. Do not try to have the whole 
rim bent in one piece, but make a splice on each side. 

Splice your oak rims together, glue and screw thoroughly, 
and when the glue is set, fit them to the backbone, cutting 
each rim so that it fits tightly over the backbone for about 
half an inch, and lag fast from the bottom of the backbone. 
Cut out your whitewood bottom a little large, and, after 
screwing oak strips in position near the bottom of back- 



HOW TO BUILD A SIXTH-CLASS ICE-YACHT 35 

bone, as shown in drawing, pour hot water on one bottom 
piece and as soon as possible fasten it permanently in posi- 
tion with plenty of screws. Do the other side in the same 
manner, trim off the outside edges, and plane true with the 
oak rim. The bottom should be bound with band iron to 
prevent splitting. The cherry rim is now fitted, one piece 
at a time, the lower edge covering the whitewood bottom, 
and the top edge projecting a quarter of an inch above the 
oak rim. Then fit the cherry rim on the other end in the 
same manner, allowing for a splice, and when both are prop- 
erly fitted, glue and screw in place, letting in the heads of the 
screws so that they can be plugged. Where the cockpit 
rail of oak goes on, the cherry rim should be cut down flush 
with the oak, and put on with dowelied spindles. They 
should be thoroughly glued and driven in tight with a 
block under each end of the rail. If the spindles and blocks 
are of applewood, they will look better. 

The runner-plank must be of one piece, sixteen feet long, 
four inches thick, and fourteen inches wide. The bottom 
is left straight from end to end, and the top side is worked 
in a true curve from the full thickness in the centre to two 
and one-half inches at the ends. The edges of the under 
side are now worked out to give the appearance of a curved 
plank two and one-half inches thick. Do not work out the 
under side quite up to where the chocks are put on. 

The chocks and braces are of one and one-half inch oak, 
and are put on in the manner shown. Measure seven feet 
each way from centre of plank and mark. This should be 
the centre of each runner, which should be one and one- 
half inches thick. Allowing for half the thickness of the 
runner, screw the inner chock of one end in position after 



36 



WINTER SPORTS 



letting it into the plank one-fourth to one-half inch, and 
fasten with four and one-half inch lag screws from the bot- 
tom. Be sure to get the chock square both ways. The 
chocks should be made in pairs, and the holes for runner- 
bolts bored before bolting to plank, allowing three-fourths 




Utt^l;;:; 



mm 



=*■ 



This shows the manner of lagging the chocks to the plank and part of the black- 
smith's iron work. The rudder-post plates should be cast of brass and turned to fit 
the post. 

of an inch clearance between the top of the runner and the 
plank. 

With a chisel mark one edge of the plank at the centre 
with A for aft and the runners P and S for port and star- 
board. 

Now bolt the runner corresponding with the chock you 
have in place to the chock and lay off for the inner chock 
at the other end, and fasten the chock with one lag and a 
screw- clamp to the plank. Now bolt the other runners to 
this chock and shift until the running edges of the runners 
are absolutely parallel. Upon this depends the sailing of 
the boat, especially in light weather. 

Mark the second chock and let it in as far as the first. 



HOW TO BUILD A SIXTH-CLASS ICE-YACHT 37 

Then try the runners again, and if they are not parallel, 
make them so. There should be four brackets placed about 
two inches from the edges of the plank, carefully fastened 
with large wood-screws to both chock and plank. In letting 
in outside chocks allow room for the runners to work 
freely, for if they bind, the speed of the boat will be gone. 
When chocks are all on, saw off the plank three inches 
outside of chocks and round up. 

Of course, all the work should be well planed and sand- 
papered, and as fast as each part is finished it should have 
a good coat of boiled oil. This is better than wood filler, 
as it keeps out the weather when varnish is scratched off, 
and does not let the wood blacken so soon as it otherwise 
would. 

Next come the spars : in some localities it is hard to get 
clear spruce large enough for the mast, and it is necessary 
to buy this spar of a spar-maker ; but it can be made more 
cheaply at home if the lumber can be found. It should be 
twenty-two feet in length, out of a five-inch stick tapered 
to three inches at each end, the tapers beginning about 
two feet from the centre. 

Purchase the ice-yacht runners with tillers and rudder- 
post. They should be of the very best quality of oak with 
cast-iron shoes. 

The running edge should be square and filed very sharp 
in a true curve from end to end, the lowest part being 
directly under bolt hole. This hole should be about three 
inches aft of the centre of the shoe. " The forward end of 
the runner is bound with band iron turned up over the nose 
to prevent the splitting of wood when running through 
rough ice. 



3 8 WINTER SPORTS 

The bumper of oak should also be bound with band iron 
and lagged to the backbone so it is clear of the rudder by a 
half inch. This is to prevent the rudder being broken in 
rough ice. 

The dolphin strikers should have a piece of gas-pipe in 
the bottom to prevent the chafing of the bobstay, and a 
mast truss is made the same way, except that it is ten inches 
deep, while the dolphin strikers are six and one-half inches. 

The two rudder-post plates should be cast and turned of 
either brass or bronze. 

There should be a ferrule on the bottom of the mast, the 
inner end of boom, and the anchor plate, for the mast truss 
should go inside the ferrule with the lip under the mast foot. 

The chain plates should be placed two inches from the 
edge of the plank, going through the guy plates with the nut 
under side. The drawings show where the fair-leaders and 
halyard cleats go, one halyard leading to each side of the 
backbone and carried in a coil lashed to the runner-plank. 

For the hand-rail use bronze hand-rail stanchions with 
gas-pipe running through, wound with heavy cotton cord, 
shellacked and varnished with several coats. 

All iron work should be filed smooth and given two coats 
of aluminum paint, and all woodwork should have two coats 
of the best spar varnish, rubbed down between coats. 

All standing rigging should be of one-fourth inch gal- 
vanized iron wire, spliced and served, and the serving should 
be shellacked and varnished. Steel wire may be used, but 
costs considerably more, and is really no better. In mak- 
ing rigging take all measurements from the boat and not 
from a drawing. 

The running rigging is of five-sixteenths manila rope. 



HOW TO BUILD A SIXTH-CLASS ICE-YACHT 39 

Use the bronze yacht locks, and good turnbuckle. Have 
lock-nuts or cotter pins in buckles to prevent unscrewing. 

A Worthen sail hoist complete for boom and gaff with 
extra track for main- sheet traveller is the best thing yet. 
Do not use a boom attachment on the boom, but buy a 
gooseneck and use the boom attachment on the traveller, 
splicing the end of main-sheet in the after end of the traveller 
so that the traveller will come nearly to the mast when the 
sail is trimmed flat. 

A section of traveller track of four inches should be cut 
out to allow the gammon strap to be placed in position, and 
then screwed down over it. Use boiled oil on the tracks, 
but if the slides stick, use a little soap. 

Three eye-bolts are necessary, two for peak halyards 
and one for the block at the foot of the mast. In ordering 
the sail, specify Egyptian cotton if you want the best, made 
to stretch to measurements given, and order only of a first- 
class sailmaker. 

Corduroy is about the best material for cockpit cushions. 
Moss may be used for filling if hair is too expensive. 

By using galvanized blocks and turnbuckles, mast- 
hoops and gaff jaws, with a cheaper sail, the cost can be 
brought under $150. A cover for sail and cockpit of ten- 
ounce canvas should be made. A sixth-class ice-yacht is 
one which has less than two hundred feet of sail area. 

For this class cat rig has proved the best, being faster 
both on and off the wind. 

With the cat-boat, cast off the bridle block on the main- 
sheet when leaving the boat with sail up, and there is no pos- 
sible chance of it getting away. T ^ 

° J — J. Sterling Bird. 

From Country Life in America, by permission. 



4 o WINTER SPORTS 



The Cost of Building a Sixth-class Ice-yacht 

Backbone, lumber for $16.32 

Runner-plank, lumber for 9.00 

Cockpit rims, steamed and bent 4.50 

Oak chocks and bumper .50 

Whitewood for cockpit bottom .55 

Mast made by spar-builder 5.28 

Boom and gaff, lumber for 1.89 

Runners, rudder-post, and tiller 30.00 

Spindles for cockpit 1.50 

2 quarts boiled oil .30 

I gallon best spar varnish 4.00 

233 feet f-inch galvanized iron wire rope 6.99 

I I f -inch cast bronze turnbuckles 24.20 

1 dozen J-inch galvanized wire rope thimbles .84 

Cotton cord for serving splices .25 

Lag bolts for splice in backbone and chocks 2.08 

Band iron for cockpit bottom .50 

Blacksmith iron work 12.00 

Bronze yacht blocks 8.60 

Worthen Patent Sail Hoist with extra track 9.27 

Gooseneck polished bronze 2.70 

1 6-inch Osborn Racing cleat polished brass 1.00 

2 6|-inch polished brass hollow cleats 1.20 

2 bronze hand-rail stanchions .50 

1 dozen brass lacing eyes for boom .75 

3 4^ X f inch galvanized eye bolts .51 

5 2\ X \ inch machine bolts for runners .12 

20 pounds f inch manila rope 3.20 

1 pound |-inch braided cotton lacing rope .45 

1 pound best yacht marline .30 

1 pint aluminum paint .65 

Egyptian cotton sail 25.00 

Corduroy, ticking, buttons, and moss for cushions . . . . 8.10 

Total $183.05 



THE BIRTH OF THE SCOOTER 

Standing that January morning on Long Island's south- 
ern mainland, whose sedgy surface never freezes so hard that 
it will not sob under foot, a man might look out over the 
still inland sea of the Great South Bay and beyond it over 
the white ocean beach to the sharp, dark curve of the un- 
fluttered ocean, and see spring in the world. Frozen fast 
from shore to beach, from farthest cove to mumbling inlet, 
the air that crept over the bay was yet so soft, the sky that 
hung over it so innocently blue, that it seemed as if the 
marble sheet must surely disappear before another morning. 

Three miles away, in the heart of the serene, stiff plain, 
lay a black furrow, bent in many curves. In it, with main 
and foresail drawing gently full, a schooner worked toward 
open sea to escape the ice-lock that had held her for a week. 
Careless eyes watched her from the mainland, from miles 
of sleepy marsh, idly desiring to be on her, close hauled for 
the unrippled Atlantic in that midwinter, summery gentle- 
ness of day. Other eyes watched her too ; eyes set in keen, 
hard-lined brown faces, where the life savers of Fire Island 
regarded her. They saw what the landsmen could not see ; 
what, indeed, only eyes as sharp as the clear gray eyes of 
gulls might catch — that the baby blue of the cloudless 
January heaven had a dull shine of hard steel where the 
sea dipped. They saw, too, high in the air wide sails ca- 
41 



42 WINTER SPORTS 

reening in a steady flight toward shore. The gulls were 
coming in, long before noon, not pausing for the feast that 
the lowered tide had spread upon the open beach. 

Down in the unseen sunken sea beyond the horizon, 
straight east as the parallel of Fire Island's latitude runs, 
a wind was being born — a cold wind and a great wind. 
It was drawing in with the young flood, moving with its 
motion, growing with its growth. When the tide was full, 
the sea wrinkled and began to move. On the frost-feath- 
ered edges of the ice inside of the inlet, a little surf began 
to run. A mile of ice whimpered. Faint, vague sighs 
fluttered over the wide plain. Under the floes, the tide, 
turning to run back to sea, strained its green back. Floe 
moved against floe, creaked, snapped, and receded. Again 
they met and drifted apart. Once more they struck, grind- 
ing and stayed. 

The schooner ran no more in an open lane. Her channel 
had become an archipelago of ice islets, changing each mo- 
ment. She tacked, and a field, breaking suddenly adrift, 
shouldered into her course. She lay on the other tack to 
pass between two floes, and, before her sheets were taut, 
the two were one. 

The beaches drummed. Beyond them the red sun shone 
on a running sea. The wind strove hugely to turn back 
the lusty tide, and the two battled, with ice floes for weap- 
ons. Astern of the caught schooner, the secret tide coaxed 
a floe that bobbed toyingly. Softly it floated, softly it 
swung under the vessel's counter, with clear splintering 
sounds it shivered into bits. And at that purring touch, 
the wheel twirled crazily with its rudder bitten off. 

Down went the starboard anchor. It fell on ice and 



THE BIRTH OF THE SCOOTER 43 

pressed it under, but a fathom deep the floe held, and 
buoyed up the half-ton iron. Out roared the port chain 
and found mud. But the ice had the schooner. When 
the chain veered out, the bottom gave way to the pull, for 
it was not a schooner alone, but an acre of moving ice that 
pulled at it. 

The straining sails spoke, thundering. But louder than 
they spoke the inlet — one ! two ! THREE ! the tide back- 
ing against the wind and cascading on the bar. Even as 
torn hands pulled in the stiffened drumheads of canvas by 
main strength, the vessel struck — once with just a dainty 
scrape and a velvety glide, as if over soft, soft sands, yield- 
ing kindly ; twice, with a weary, squatting wallow ; thrice, 
with a smash that shivered to her mastheads. Below there 
came the trill of little water, flowing musically. Her tim- 
bers had started, and the Atlantic Ocean was coming in to 
see what manner of thing this was. 

Now here was such a shipwreck as the winter sea loves, 
with a scene set cunningly to torment its victims before it 
took them down ; for around the bursting schooner lay too 
much ice to launch a boat in, but were men to creep out on 
it, they would be met by encompassing hungry water, — cold 
and deep and black. 

The stanchest life-boat on all the American coast, from 
Cape Fear to Montauk, could not win through the wicked 
mass. Yet, from the white dunes of Fire Island, something 
was coming to help. Little things they were, detaching 
themselves speck by speck from the beach where the Life 
Saving Station sits; so little that the lonely figure of the 
occupant of each loomed up like that of a man sitting on a 
child's bobsled. 



44 WINTER SPORTS 

Pitiful things were these to play at taking the place of 
the mighty life-boats; neither as large nor as deep as a 
ducking skiff, and set with a mast scarcely higher than a 
man. But they came with the speed of the blast itself. 
Scarcely seeming to touch the surface, they skimmed a 
smooth stretch, with a clinking ring of metal on hard ice. 
In their course lay a long mile of hummocks — two and 
three feet high, cast in rough confusion. Straight at them 
went the little things, mounted them, dipped into the hol- 
lows, mounted again, and leaped headlong from the last 
ones to hit the ice twenty feet away — and still to tear 
ahead unchecked for even an instant by the wild work. 
Now they hit mush ice, over which surely no thing made of 
man can go, any more than things can go through it, for 
it is too thin for the one and too solid for the other. 

Churn ! churn ! churn ! The mush spouts off the bows, 
and oh they go, unhindered, with ice crystals and water 
spraying high along each side. Out of the mush they spring 
more easily than ever gull rose from the water, and with a 
crunch take the hard ice again and speed on faster, faster. 
But now they are surely doomed ! Ahead of them lies 
black water, five hundred yards across, and they are pointing 
for it straight at twenty miles an hour and not a hundred 
yards to make before they leap in and are engulfed ! 

In they go ! White water smashes over them. But 
instantly out of the froth the little sails wimple and skim 
on, undeviating. They hit the ice-bank on the other side 
plumb and do not stop, but slide up on it as a wet seal slides 
on his floe. Again they take hummocks, almost leaping 
from top to top of the rough crests. Again they take hard 
ice, brittle ice, mush ice, ice five feet thick, and ice that is 



THE BIRTH OF THE SCOOTER 45 

only a glare over treacherous, lurking. water; and straight 
and true, unharmed and undelayed they sail and round 
under the stern of the broken ship. 

Next morning her sticks and splintered timbers make dis- 
mal black dots along five miles of ice-field, and , the surf 
makes catplay with her wreckage from Fire Island to Tiana 
Beach ; but her crew sits safe and warm in the Life Saving 
Station, thanks to the Long Island life saver's contribution 
to nautical engineering, the Great South Bay scooter — 
sail-boat and ice-boat in one, and the nearest thing to a 
wild duck that the hand of man has produced. 

Men are "scootering" for sport now, all over the Great 
South Bay from Babylon to Moriches ; but the sport is not 
older than this century, and the scooter has not changed 
perceptibly in model or rig from the original form devised 
by the life savers for practical and, often, grim work. . . . 
It still is delightfully and amazingly simple — nothing 
except a flat-bottomed, shallow boat shaped like a ducking 
skiff, shod with a steel or brass runner on each side of the 
flat keel, and sailed with mainsail and jib, the latter being 
used to steer the craft, since, manifestly, it cannot carry 
tiller. 

Like the Indian canoe, the Eskimo kayak, the Hawaiian 
surf-riding boats, and the Malay proa, the scooter, fully as 
unique and original as they, was born of simple necessity. 

Those strange salt-water lagoons that extend from New 
York east along the south shore of Long Island to the sandy 
Hamptons present an Arctic problem of their own in win- 
ter. No boat can cross them, for there is never an unbroken 
reach of open water. No man can walk them, for there is 
rarely unbroken ice. No ice-yacht can sail them, for there 



46 WINTER SPORTS 

may be a five-foot thickness in one stretch and not half an 
inch in another. The restless tides will not let the bays 
freeze smooth. Each change of current makes hummocks 
up-rear that would wreck the ice-yacht. Each tide opens 
wind holes and loosens floes in the channels. Thus the 
only mode of winning across the treacherous and deadly 
surface from mainland to beach, for communication or 
life saving, was to drag a flat-bottomed boat on a sled, slid- 
ing it off at mush ice or open water and poling or rowing 
till hard ice was gained again, when the killing work of 
dragging the heavy craft was resumed. Often it required 
half a day for men to cross the bay. No man could expect 
to cross without breaking through hidden holes. Each 
winter took a toll of dead. 

To ease the work of dragging the boats, the life savers at 
last hit on the idea of setting a tiny sail on the craft when 
the wind was fair. Gradually the sails were enlarged. 
Then a bright spirit fastened sledge runners directly to the 
bottom of the boat instead of mounting it on a sled. And 
then — all at once one man preparing to cross the bay with 
a mighty wind behind him, asked himself why he should 
haul the boat at all. In that moment the scooter was 

born - —J. W. Muller. 

By permission of the Outing Magazine. 



BUILDING A SCOOTER 

Anybody can build a scooter if he can build anything 
at all. Some of the best on the Great South Bay to-day 
were built by house-carpenters. One of the prize winners 
in the races of 1904 was built by a stone-mason. The boat 
that came in third in the race of the year before was built by 
a boy of eighteen, who had not seen or heard of a scooter 
before that year. Their cost may range from seventy- 
five to a hundred dollars. 

The typical scooter is from fourteen to fifteen feet long, 
with a beam of four to five feet. It is well decked all around, 
particularly forward, so that the open space forms a cock- 
pit only five or five and a half feet long and two feet to 
two and a half wide. Around the cockpit runs a power- 
ful combing, built to withstand rough knocks and rising 
to at least three inches above deck. The entire deck has 
a gentle turtle-back curve, both fore and aft and across. 
This curve of the deck is almost duplicated by the bottom 
of the scooter, thus making a very slight modification of a 
ilat bottom. 

Now come the runners — really the only thing that makes 
the scooter different from any other kind of boat. They 
are made of brass or steel. Each has its votaries. The 
men with brass runners can file them true and sharp when- 
ever they need it, especially before a race, without wasting 
47 



48 WINTER SPORTS 

more than a few minutes. There are conditions where 
steel runners hold the ice better, and again at times the 
softer brass runners are a decided advantage. On a four- 
teen-foot boat the runners will be ten feet long, slightly 
rocker-shaped, one inch wide and from one and a half 
to one and three-quarters inches high, being so set and 
ground as to bevel inwards. They are set about twenty 
inches apart. It is in the shape, set, and location of the 
runners that further evolution and perfection of the scooter 
as a racing machine probably will come. 

The mast, which is set well aft, is from nine to ten feet 
long. The sails may be rigged in any way customary for 
small boats. The handiest are the regulation boom and 
gaff and sprit rigs for mainsails, while it is well to have a 
small boom for the foot of the jib because its proper ma- 
nipulation and set are so important for the handling of the 
boat. The bowsprit is large and heavy, and projects from 
two and one-half to three feet beyond the hull. It is made 
removable, so that larger or smaller sticks can be substi- 
tuted according to the weather. 

The sail spread of the scooter differs from that of common 
craft in that the canvas has its greatest extent laterally 
instead of in height. The scooter wants as much sail as 
possible astern and in the bow, because it is the canvas 
alone that steers her. Therefore, a scooter with a nine- 
foot mast may carry a seven or eight foot gaff and a boom 
extending fifteen feet and more, although fourteen feet 
is the usual length for a nine and a half foot mast. The 
leach of such a sail will be fourteen feet or a little more. 
The foot of the jib will be at least seven feet, and the leach 
about the same. 



BUILDING A SCOOTER 49 

Most of the boats are built of pine with oak decks. They 
must be strong, to withstand the extremely violent wrenches 
and bumps due to the rough work in the broken ice. The 
equipment consists of a pair of oars and a pike-pole with 
sharpened points. The latter is as vital to scootering as 
an anchor is to a yacht. It offers the only method by which 
the scooterer can work his way through bad mush ice if the 
wind is not strong enough to force him over or through it. 
It is needed, also, to bring the scooter around in extra 
heavy weather, in case the steering power of the jib should 
not be sufficient to do it quickly, or the sailor lose control 
of his craft temporarily; a contingency that is likely to 
happen with bewildering suddenness in the case of a two- 
hundred-pound craft with a forty-mile wind behind pro- 
jecting it over ice as smooth as glass. 

It is wonderful how well the jib steers the scooter, how- 
ever. There being no tiller to demand the care of the sailor, 
he can handle his jib and mainsail alone and thus make them 
work in perfect harmony. Let go the jib- sheet and haul 
taut the main, and the little boat will come around as 
sweetly as any deep-finned yacht minds her strong helm. 
She will reach and beat into the eye of the wind, and her 
runners will not make more leeway than most centre-boards. 
But if she is to come up in the wind in a particular hurry, 
the steersman steps swiftly toward the bow so that his 
weight makes the bearing fall on the keel forward, and the 
lightened stern comes right around. Thus by a nice ad- 
justment of weight and a close manipulation of sails, the 
scooter can be made to turn in her own length — spin 
around like a top. Practically, the man who can sail any 
small boat really well can sail a scooter. There are lots 



50 WINTER SPORTS 

of "wrinkles"; but there is only one radically new thing 
to learn, and that is a queer one. 

The scooter's poorest point of sailing is running free 
before the wind. Indeed, to be precise, the scooter cannot 
sail at all before the wind. The moment the mainsail 
blankets the jib in a following wind, the steering power is 
totally gone. The only way to sail a scooter before the 
wind is to beat down it. You've got to tack before the 
wind with a scooter just as you have to tack into one. 

One or two make her crew. She can carry three, but it 
is better to have less. When she darts over smooth ice, 
the men perch on the combing aft to windward, as they do 
on cat-boats. When she nears rubble or hummocks, or 
prepares to dive into mush or water, all hands stand up, to 
relieve her of dead weight. To enter open water, she is 
driven straight at it. That is the time the hand at the 
"helm" must know what to do with that jib. Should she 
take it sideways, over she'll go. She must hit it true and 
be eased as much as may be by cunning play with the main- 
sail. Once over the first wild careen of her plunge, which 
is almost identical with the gliding plunge of a " shoot- the- 
chutes" boat, she skims the water as neatly as she skims 
the ice. When approaching solid ice again, she must be 
headed straight into it. Her flaring bow goes up its edge, 
and if she has arrived with speed, she has slid up on it and 
is off again on her runners before you know it. If the wind 
is too light to drive her forcefully enough, she may have to 
be helped with the pike-pole, or with another and unique 
implement specially devised, which looks as much like a 
hoe as anything. 

For a number of years it was a queer thing about the 



BUILDING A SCOOTER 51 

scooter that a few miles east or west of Great South Bay the 
craft was hardly known, even by reputation. Yet for two 
years certainly the ice in front of Patchogue had been like 
a picnic ground ; every variety of craft cruised on its sur- 
face, when a Jamaica Bay oysterman, to whom something 
was said about scooters, listened with quizzical wrinkle 
around his eyes. ''Scooters, eh!" said he, spitting with 
loving care at a piece of driftwood. "Scooters! And 
they jump off the ice into the water, do they ? Well, well ! 
What a lot of things there be on land and sea that a feller 
never would hear of at all if he didn't associate with any 
except them that tells the honest truth." 

— J. W. MULLER. 

By permission of the Outing Magazine. 



SKATING 

THE RUDIMENTS OF SKATING 

As when taking up any sport the first thing to consider 
is the equipment. For men the most graceful costume 
by far is either the Austrian or Swedish, consisting of 
close-fitting breeches or black woollen tights meeting a 
high boot below the knee or continued to the ankle and 
covered by the top of the skating-shoe ; in either case 
the coat is short and often a sweater is worn instead. The 
requisite for women is a moderately short walking-skirt, 
reaching to within four or five inches of the ice. Buttoned 
and low shoes are out of the question. The modern skating- 
shoe has straps attached to give additional support in case 
of weak ankles, and laces well down to the toe, which 
allows a more perfect adjustment. The heel should not 
be too high, an inch or less. Tan leather is cleaner, and 
some skating-shoes are made with a waterproof sole which 
gives greater warmth and dryness. It is wisest to have 
a special skating-shoe with the skate permanently attached ; 
the most suitable adjustable skate is the one that has 
the so-called heel button, as it gives the securest fastening 
at the heel and is easily detached. The screw toe clamp 
is preferable to all others. The extreme length of the 
skate should not be greater than the whole length of the 
shoe, except in the case of racing skates. The curve of 

S3 



54 WINTER SPORTS 

the blade best adapted for all-round work on the ice is 
that known as a seven-foot radius. For competitions 
in figure skating some champions prefer as radius a true 
curve of five feet, width of blade a bare quarter of an inch, 
tapering slightly at the heel and toe, and with a height at 
the heel plate slightly greater than at the toe plate. For 
speed skating the blade may be as much as seventeen 
inches long and as thin as one- sixteenth of an inch, sup- 
ported by being set into a tube of steel ; an expert speed 
skater will ride upon such a skate for nineteen or twenty 
feet at a single stroke. 

Almost all skating movements are done forward and 
backward on either the outside or inside edge of the skate 
blade, obtained by tipping the skate, foot, and body to- 
gether slightly outward or inward. 

In beginning on the ice, the way to avoid a fall by slipping 
is to stand on both inner edges, then, if the skates slip 
forward, bring the toes together, which will block the slide, 
or the heels together if the slipping is backward. 

From the standing position to move forward, keep the 
left foot, which is the first to carry the whole weight, 
pointed straight ahead. A common fault is making the 
angle between each stroke and the line of direction which 
the skater is following too wide. The momentum is ob- 
tained by a little push from the inner edge of the right 
skate which is about to leave the ice, and at the same time 
a gradual swinging forward of the left shoulder in the same 
direction as the left foot, keeping constantly in mind that 
the knee of the now employed foot (left) should be slightly 
bent, as it helps to control the balance which is directed 
in the main by the unemployed foot. This bending the 



THE RUDIMENTS OF SKATING 55 

knee, called "cushioning the stroke," is most important 
in skating, because it acts like the spring upon a carriage, 
taking up the vibration and so preventing a jar ; it also 
relieves the strain on the ankle. In this plain forward 
stroke the skate is nearly vertical ; if tipped at all sideways, 
it bears on the inner rather than the outer edge. While 
moving forward on the left skate, gradually draw the 
right foot up and forward in line to the position first held 
by the left, pointing the toe straight forward. Now place 
the whole weight on the right skate, push off with the left 
and swing the right shoulder forward, thus keeping up 
the momentum and cushioning the new stroke with the 
right knee bent, while the left foot, now become the un- 
employed, preserves the balance. 

Never stiffen ; it is fatal to graceful skating, and usually 
results in a fall, because it prevents the natural adjust- 
ments of the body from maintaining the balance. In 
swinging the shoulders forward avoid bending at the hips. 

This is the simplest form of forward skating and should 

be practised very slowly at first with frequent rests. The 

mark the skate leaves on the ice shows 

each stroke as a very small part of the 

circumference of a large circle. It 

Plain Forward 
also shows that the greatest forward Stroke 

progress in each stroke is gained when 

the stroke is most nearly parallel with the desired direction. 

The next step after mastering the .plain forward stroke 

is the " outer edge-roll" forward, which differs from the 

first movement inasmuch as the small segment of a large 

circle is increased to a full half-circle of less diameter, 

supporting the weight while travelling on the outer edge 



56 WINTER SPORTS 

of the skate. Swing the shoulder of the employed side 
well out sidewise in the direction of the employed foot, 
at the same time bend the knee of the employed leg with a 
dipping motion to cushion the strike, and start the momen- 
tum forward, describing a full half-circle of moderate size. 
The unemployed foot is carried straight and always in 
the rear of the employed foot, the toe being well turned 
out. Now gradually swing the unemployed foot forward, 
keeping the skate just clear of the ice, 
being careful not to let it swing past 
the employed foot, until the weight is 

OUT F R OEW D A G RD ROLL ab ° Ut t0 be P^ ^ U P° n lt '> thei1 the 

heels are almost touching. Now shift 
the full weight to the unemployed foot, and so alternate 
the motions, describing a half-circle as nearly perfect 
as possible. With each swing, of course, the shoulders 
change as the feet alternate. The correct position of 
the arms is hanging straight down by the sides in any 
easy way, or the hands may be placed in a muff. Do 
not watch the feet, keep the eyes looking well ahead to 
avoid any obstacles that may be in the way, such as sticks 
or rough ice. 

Another skating movement is the " inner edge-roll" 
forward. In starting, place the employed foot (left) 
on the ice with the skate on the inner edge. Most of the 
weight should be carried on the heel of the skate blade, 
as it cuts the ice more easily while moving. The shoulder 
of the employed side is swung out in the direction followed 
by the employed foot. Push off with the unemployed 
foot (right), and while moving, draw it up in line with the 
employed foot, heels touching, and carry it there till the 



THE RUDIMENTS OF SKATING 57 

finish of the stroke. Then shift the whole weight onto 
the right foot, making it now employed, and at the same 
time push of! with the left skate. This inner edge move- 
ment is continued over the ice, and /<""~^ s — \ 

the mark the skates leave is called the — ^ ^—^ s 

,,, , , , .,, . Hooked Bill or Chain 

hooked bill or chain. Ihese move- 
ments are very important for every skater to learn, as almost 
all skating figures call for one edge as much as the other. 

Now that the skater has mastered both edge-rolls for- 
ward, one must accomplish the same backward to be con- 
sidered a good skater. 

Before trying to strike out backward I should advise 
practice in turning around first to the right and then to 
the left on the flat of the skates. It is also a good practice 
in learning to stop one's self while skating, which is quite 
essential. For example, you are skating over the ice 
quite rapidly, and suddenly you wish to stop for some 
obstacle that happens in your way ; just place both skates 
down on the ice and rock out quickly to the outer edge 
of one skate, the other will turn to the inner ; at the same 
time turn the whole body, and hold the skates on the 
edges — and a full stop is instant. It is caused by the 
turn of the whole body, and the cutting in of the skate 
blades sideways into the ice. 

After you are able to turn around in both directions 
and want to start skating backward, I strongly advise 
you to relax your knees as much as possible; for if you 
should happen to fall, it would then be forward instead of 
backward, which by all means would be better for the 
dignity of the skater ! 

Place one heel (left) back in an outward direction, push 



58 WINTER SPORTS 

off with the unemployed (right) inner edge, swinging the 
shoulder outward and backward with the skate in the 
same direction. After some distance has been covered, 
enough to call a stroke, shift the whole weight to the right 
foot (making it now employed), swing the shoulder out 
and push off with the left unemployed inner edge making 
another stroke, and so on, alternating the balance with 
swing and executing the simplest form of backward skating. 
A great help in all backward skating is to get as much 
propelling power from the push-off of the unemployed 
foot as possible, for most beginners do not swing the shoul- 
ders out enough when skating backward. 

After one can skate the simple backward stroke comes 
the outer edge-roll backward. Start by placing the em- 
ployed foot, heel turned out a little on the outer edge 
of the skate. Bend the knee, swing the shoulder out 
in the direction of skating backward. The unemployed 
foot is used in pushing off. After the first stroke the 
weight is shifted to the unemployed foot, and the shoulders 
are now swung out in that direction and so on, describing 
as in forward skating a half -circle at every stroke. The 
swinging out of the shoulder in the direction of the skate 
not only adds to the grace of the movement, but helps 
to hold the skate on the edge while travelling. 

One important point to remember when skating back- 
ward is to watch where you are going. This to the average 
beginner sounds impossible, but it is not. For example, 
when moving back on the outer edge on the employed 
foot, gradually turn the head around and look over the 
unemployed shoulder, and you will be able to see just 
where you are skating quite easily. 



THE RUDIMENTS OF SKATING 59 

After this outer edge backward movement comes the 
" inner edge-roll" backward. In starting, place the em- 
ployed foot on the inner edge of the skate. The knee 
being slightly bent, swing outward with the shoulders. 
The unemployed foot is used for pushing, and when it 
leaves the ice, it is brought up so that the toes of the shoes 
touch. At the finish of the first stroke the unemployed 
foot becomes employed, and the balance is now changed 
in that direction by dropping the full weight to the em- 
ployed foot. To hold the skate firmly on this edge, carry 
most of the weight on the heel of the blade as in skating 
on the inner edge forward, as it prevents one from turn- 
ing around in a small loop. The skate mark left on the 
ice is the same as that left after executing the inner edge- 
roll forward, " hooked bill." 

And now, as one writer says, "When the wistful 
learner has mastered plain skating on the flat of the skate, 
the outside edge forward, the outside edge backward, 
the inside edge forward and the inside edge backward, 
he is lord of the 360 figure movements that form the art 
of skating." — William T. Richardson. 

SKATING IN 1 180 

" When the great fenne or moore (which watcreth the 
walls of the citie on the North side) is frozen many young 
men play on the yce . . . some striding as wide as they 
may doe slide swif tlie ; some tye bones to their feete and 
under their heeles, and shoving themselves with a little 
picked staffe do slide as swiftlie as a birde flyeth in the 
aire or an arrow out of a cross-bowe." 

— Fitz Stephen's " Description of London." 



MR. WINKLE ON THE ICE 

" Well, Sam," said Mr. Pickwick, as that favored servi- 
tor entered his bed-chamber with his warm water on the 
morning of Christmas Day, " Still frosty?" 

"Water in the wash-hand basin 's a mask o' ice, Sir," 
responded Sam. 

"Severe weather, Sam," observed Mr. Pickwick. 

"Fine time for them as is well wropped up, as the Polar 
Bear said to himself, ven he was practising his skaiting," 
replied Mr. Weller. 

"I shall be down in a quarter of an hour, Sam," said 
Mr. Pickwick, untying his nightcap. . . . 

"Now," said Wardle, after a substantial lunch, with 
the agreeable items of strong beer and cherry-brandy, 
had been done ample justice to; "what say you to an 
hour on the ice ? We shall have plenty of time." 

"Capital !" said Mr. Benjamin Allen. 

"Prime !" ejaculated Mr. Bob Sawyer. 

"You skait, of course, Winkle?" said Wardle. 

"Ye — yes; oh yes;" replied Mr. Winkle. "I — I — 
am rather out of practice." 

"Oh, do skait, Mr. Winkle," said Arabella. "I like 
to see it so much." 

"Oh, it is so graceful," said another young lady. 

A third young lady said it was elegant, and a fourth 
expressed her opinion that it was "swan-like." 
60 



MR. WINKLE ON THE ICE 61 

"I should be very happy, I 'm sure," said Mr. Winkle, 
reddening; "but I have no skaits." 

This objection was at once overruled. Trundle had 
got a couple of pair, and the fat boy announced that there 
were half-a-dozen more, downstairs, whereat Mr. Winkle 
expressed exquisite delight, and looked exquisitely un- 
comfortable. 

Old Wardle led the way to a pretty large sheet of ice; 
and the fat boy and Mr. Weller, having shovelled and 
swept away the snow which had fallen on it during the 
night, Mr. Bob Sawyer adjusted the skaits with a dexterity 
which to Mr. Winkle was perfectly marvellous, and de- 
scribed circles with his left leg, and cut figures of eight; 
and inscribed upon the ice, without once stopping for 
breath, a great many other pleasant and astonishing de- 
vices, to the excessive satisfaction of Mr. Pickwick, Mr. 
Tupman, and the ladies; which reached a pitch of posi- 
tive enthusiasm, when old Wardle and Benjamin Allen, 
assisted by the aforesaid Bob Sawyer, performed some 
mystic evolutions, which they called a reel. 

At this time, Mr. Winkle, with his face and hands blue 
with the cold, had been forcing a gimlet into the soles of 
his feet, and putting his skaits on, with the points behind, 
and getting the straps into a very complicated and entangled 
state, with the assistance of Mr. Snodgrass, who knew 
rather less about skaits than a Hindoo. At length, how- 
ever, with the assistance of Mr. Weller, the unfortunate 
skaits were firmly screwed and buckled on, and Mr. Winkle 
was raised to his feet. 

"Now then, Sir," said Sam, in an encouraging tone ; "off 
vith you, and show 'em how to do it." 



62 WINTER SPORTS 

"Stop, Sam, stop," said Mr. Winkle, trembling vio- 
lently and clutching hold of Sam's arms with the grasp 
of a drowning man. "How slippery it is, Sam !" 

"Not an uncommon thing upon ice, Sir," replied Mr. 
Weller. "Hold up, Sir." 

This last observation of Mr. Weller's bore reference 
to a demonstration Mr. Winkle made at the instant, of a 
frantic desire to throw his feet in the air, and dash the back 
of his head on the ice. 

"These — these — are very awkward skaits ; ain't they, 
Sam?" inquired Mr. Winkle, staggering. 

"I 'm afeerd there 's an orkard gen'lm'n in 'em, Sir," 
replied Sam. 

"Now, Winkle," cried Mr. Pickwick, quite unconscious 
that there was anything the matter. "Come; the ladies 
are all anxiety." 

"Yes, yes," replied Mr. Winkle, with a ghastly smile. 
"I 'm coming." 

"Just a goin' to begin," said Sam, endeavoring to dis- 
engage himself. "Now, Sir, start off." 

"Stop an instant, Sam," gasped Mr. Winkle, clinging 
most affectionately to Mr. Weller. "I find I 've got a 
couple of coats at home, that I don't want, Sam. You 
may have them, Sam." 

"Thank'ee, Sir," replied Mr. Weller. 

"Never mind touching your hat, Sam," said Mr. Winkle, 
hastily. "You needn't take your hand away to do that. 
I meant to have given you five shillings this morning for 
a Christmas-box, Sam. I '11 give it to you this afternoon, 
Sam." 

"You 're wery good, Sir," replied Mr. Weller. 



MR. WINKLE ON THE ICE 63 

" Just hold me at first, Sam ; will you ? " said Mr. Winkle. 
" There — that 's right. I shall soon get in the way of it, 
Sam. Not too fast, Sam; not too fast." 

Mr. Winkle, stooping forward with his body half doubled 
up, was being assisted over the ice by Mr. Weller, in a very 
singular and un-swan-like manner, when Mr. Pickwick 
most innocently shouted from the opposite bank — 

"Sam!" 

"Sir?" said Mr. Weller. 

"Here. I want you." 

"Let go, Sir," said Sam. "Don't you hear the governor 
a callin' ? Let go, Sir." 

With a violent effort, Mr. Weller disengaged himself 
from the grasp of the agonized Pickwickian; and, in so 
doing, administered a considerable impetus to the unhappy 
Mr. Winkle. With an accuracy which no degree of dexter- 
ity or practice could have insured, that unfortunate gentle- 
man bore swiftly down into the centre of the reel, at the 
very moment when Mr. Bob Sawyer was performing a 
flourish of unparalleled beauty. Mr. Winkle struck wildly 
against him, and with a loud crash they both fell heavily 
down. Mr. Pickwick ran to the spot. Bob Sawyer had 
risen to his feet, but Mr. Winkle was far too wise to do any- 
thing of the kind in skaits. He was seated on the ice, mak- 
ing spasmodic efforts to smile ; but anguish was depicted 
on every lineament of his countenance. 

"Are you hurt?" inquired Mr. Benjamin Allen, with 
great anxiety. 

" Not much," said Mr. Winkle, rubbing his back very hard. 

"I wish you 'd let me bleed you," said Mr. Benjamin with 
great eagerness. 



64 WINTER SPORTS 

"No, thank you," replied Mr. Winkle, hurriedly. 

"I really think you had better," said Allen. 

"Thank you," replied Mr. Winkle; "I 'd rather not." 

"What do you think, Mr. Pickwick?" inquired Bob 
Sawyer. 

Mr. Pickwick was excited and indignant. He beckoned 
to Mr. Weller, and said in a stern voice, "Take his skaits 
off." - 

"No; but really I had scarcely begun," remonstrated 
Mr. Winkle. 

"Take his skaits off," repeated Mr. Pickwick, firmly. 

The command was not to be resisted. Mr. Winkle 
allowed Sam to obey it, in silence. 

"Lift him up," said Mr. Pickwick. Sam assisted him 
to rise. 

Mr. Pickwick retired a few paces apart from the by- 
standers ; and, beckoning his friend to approach, fixed a 
searching look upon him, and uttered in a low, but distinct 
and emphatic tone, these remarkable words : — 

"You 're a humbug, Sir." 

"A what !" said Mr. Winkle, starting. 

"A humbug, Sir. I will speak plainer, if you wish it. 
An impostor, Sir." 

With these words, Mr. Pickwick turned slowly on his 
heel, and rejoined his friends. _ Chaeles Dickens . 

From The Pickwick Papers. 



SKATING FOR THE LITTLE BEAR AT 
GRINDELWALD 

Every Tuesday morning at about eleven the crowd of 
skaters gathers about the centre of the rink in the form of a 
great horseshoe, and looks expectant. Presently from the 
midst of it a man glides sedately into the open space and 
begins to do the outside edge in a thoroughly businesslike 
manner. Somehow you feel certain that the state of his 
inner spirit is not of a piece with his outward calm ; and 
when at a word from somebody near the centre of the crowd 
he changes to the inside edge, you look towards the 
source of the command, and discover at the same time 
the cause of his suppressed agitation. Standing slightly 
aloof from the rest of the onlookers are three stern-visaged 
persons watching with eagle eyes the performance of the 
solitary skater, and gathering themselves together to pounce 
upon the slightest flaw. One of them is armed with pencil 
and paper, presumably for the purpose of recording every 
capture of a wavering curve or a rasping turn. They are 
really amiable enough people, these judges, on other days 
of the week, and as likely as not the subject of their present 
scrutiny is an intimate friend of theirs; but let him not 
now presume upon their friendship, which is sunk so deep 
under the still waters of justice that it may not rise again 
to the surface till the following morning. When he has 
negotiated to the best of his ability all four edges and some 
f 65 



66 WINTER SPORTS 

simple 3's and 8's, this first skater is ordered out of the 
arena and is succeeded by a second, possibly some tender 
slip of womankind, but stout-hearted, who is put through 
the same ordeal. Yet these trials are elective, and the 
object of them is this. After all candidates of the day have 
been on the ice, the judges inform each one among them 
who has fulfilled the traditional requirements of the test 
that he may go to one of the village shops and buy for the 
sum of three francs a brooch, with a tiny silver bear dangling 
from it, which may be worn for all time to come, and people 
will say "He has his Little Bear," and treat him with con- 
siderable respect. 

It seems an easy test, because so little is required ; but 
it is really difficult, because the standard of execution is so 
high. Of course it is in the English style of skating ; even 
the Oberlander skate in the English style, for no other is 
recognized here. One day a celebrated Continental skater 
came upon the ice with a style of his own invention, dis- 
tinctly original, and highly ornate. He did some gorgeous 
figures with remarkable speed, and the old habitues stood 
breathless to see him come swinging over the rink with an 
"unemployed" that strayed from orthodoxy with the most 
charming abandon. It was a bit too dazzling, as he realized 
himself, and on the second day he wisely went, leaving be- 
hind him an unwholesome exotic fragrance which the faithful 
at once proceeded to chase away with all their virtuous might. 

Whenever anybody is courageous enough to ask for it, the 
Big Bear test is held. This requires proficiency in all the 
essentials of English figure-skating, and has been passed 

y u ew * — Daniel P. Rhodes. 



FIGURE SKATING 

While there is in Europe a strong distinction between 
two schools of figure skating, the "English " and the "Con- 
tinental," in America the tendency has been to take a 
middle course between the two styles. According to 
Mr. Rhodes, "the English conception of skating, like the 
English conception of many other difficult undertakings, 
may be embodied in two words — nothing easier. Long 
sweeping curves, smooth complacent turns pianissimo, 
body erect in a statuesque repose, rebellious arms stoically 
repressed to the minimum of insurrection, these are the 
requirements of the English school." The broad dis- 
tinction is that the English style requires that the skater 
keep his employed leg absolutely straight, the knee unbent ; 
the whole person a rigid line vertically above the bearing 
edge of the skate. Turns are made by the action of the 
muscles of the ankle on which the weight is resting without 
assistance from the unemployed leg. Continental skaters 
insist on the bending of the employed knee and make their 
turns by a free use of the unemployed leg, with the employed 
foot serving as scarcely more than a pivot. 

A part of this wide difference is due to a difference in 

the skates used ; the radius of an English skate is usually 

from six to seven feet, of a Continental skate, five feet 

to five and a half ; the result is greater ease of balance on 

67 



68 WINTER SPORTS 

the English skate, the need of freer use of arm and leg 
to maintain equilibrium on a Continental skate. On the 
English skate large curves are more easily described than 
small, and skaters in combination execute figures of in- 
tricate evolution. The ordinary number for a combined 
figure is four, but may be sixteen or twenty. Four men 
take positions facing a common centre, one pair facing 
north and south, the other east and west; one as leader 
calls off the figure to be skated, his partner and he from 
opposite sides start on the same foot, approach each other, 
stroke for stroke, meet at the exact centre, wheel and pass 
in perfect time, followed closely by the second pair who 
skate exactly the same figures but on a course at right 
angles to that traced by the first pair of skaters. At one 
moment all four will seem to be racing around a circle 
yards away from the centre, but there is no effort of one 
to overtake another, each is a quarter of the circumference 
away from the next, and sooner or later the signal sends 
them all wheeling toward the centre until collision seems 
inevitable, but is always avoided by a turn at the critical 
time — that is, when the skaters are expert. To the 
Continental skater on the other hand belongs the field 
of individual small-figure skating; his aim is grace and 
swift motion in compact symmetrical figures, in the making 
of which the whole body contributes, bending and swaying 
in graceful emphasis of the beautiful curves described. 

The American skater, however, is quite likely to wear 
a skate of the English radius, but adopt to some extent 
the Continental practice of bending the knee. He may not 
copy either the swinging dash of the Swede, the nearest 
of the Continentals to the smooth dignity of the English, 



FIGURE SKATING 69 

nor yet the brilliant, rapid, almost theatrical French or 
Austrian figure skating, but his points of good style, as 
the best skaters have set them down, are not essentially 
different from those required by the rules of the Inter- 
national Skating Union. 

The head must be carried erect with the eyes turned to 
the ice at his feet no more than is absolutely necessary; 
the arms should hang naturally and not stiffly to the sides ; 
the body should not be bent either forward or sideways 
from the hips, and the shoulders should be held well back 
so that the lungs are expanded ; the employed leg should 
be slightly bent at the knee to give freedom of motion; 
the unemployed should swing with freedom enough to 
secure perfect balance and grace, but without extravagant 
abandon. The ideal of form is : perfect freedom, yet 
" nothing too much." 

Assuming that the skater has mastered the five rudiments 
and can skate on the flat edge, or backward or forward 
on either edge, he may advance to figure skating by way 
of the " cross-roll/ ' which differs from the outer edge-roll 
only in that as the unemployed foot leaves the ice it is 
swung across the other and strikes the ice on its outside 
edge as the weight of the body falls upon it. A point to 
remember is that in skating the cross-roll forward the toe 
should point in slightly as the skate strikes the ice ; so in 
going backward, the toe turns out and the heel in. 

A simple figure developed from this cross-roll is the 
figure eight done on two feet; it is marked on the ice by 
doing one complete circle on one foot on the outer edge 
and at the finish crossing the foot over and making an- 
other outer edge circle on that foot. 



7 o WINTER SPORTS 

Another simple figure done on two feet is the "grape- 
vine," made by doing a " serpentine" with each foot, one 
slightly in advance of the other ; and a serpentine is merely 
a repetition of the " figure three, " first on one foot and then 

on the other. This 

figure three involves a 
The Grapevine , , 

new movement, known 

as the "change of edge-roll," in which at the middle point 
of a stroke the balance of the body is shifted so that from 
an outer edge stroke it becomes an inner edge stroke, 
making a graceful curve, the half of a figure eight. But 
if the position of the body is shifted with the change of 
edge, the mark left is a figure three, of 
which the first half, for example, may be 
skated on the outer edge forward and the 
remainder on the inner edge backward, A p^^, three 
but all on the one foot in the one stroke. 
It should be noted that while the skater changes his posi- 
tion, facing alternately front and back and shifts from 
one foot to the other, continuing the figure three into a 
serpentine, the direction of his progress remains the same. 
. s~Y~\ This movement, known as the three- 

*<J<-s n ' turn, is especially important in waltz- 
Figure Three, For- • • 

ward and Backward ° 

Theoretically, the various figures 

which are described on one foot are important, because 
in the beginning nearly every skater will find that he has 
unequal command of his two feet, and these figures are sup- 
posed to be the exercises by which the weaker is developed 
to the degree of the other. But too often the desire to see 
or show a well-executed design on the ice leads the novice 




FIGURE SKATING 



71 



to practice the figure on the foot with which he can do the 
more even curves, with the result that the vice of having 
a a pet foot" is more than ever confirmed. Of such one- 
foot figures the " rocking turns" are frequent elements; 
they are curves of an acute angle made by changing from 
one edge forward to the same edge backward; according 
to whether it is made toward the right or the left the turn 
is a " rocker" or a "counter rocker." The turn made by 
skating the change of edge-roll first forward and then 
backward, or vice versa, is called a " bracket turn." These 
are the more important units, all of them based on the 
fundamental rolls, which are combined in many various 
ways in intricate fancy figure skating. The " clover- 
leaf" is a figure three with an additional turn thus: outer 
forward to inner backward, to outer forward again; or 
by beginning on the inner edge backward to outer forward 
to inner backward again. The " cross-cut" or , 

"anvil" is carried out entirely on the outer ^CZ^^I 
edge of the skate, by making a small curve 
forward on the outer edge, then a straight 
line back on the outer, and forward in a curve on the 
outer edge still. Four of these anvils made in succession, 
equally apart from a common centre, form a " Maltese 




Tulip Star 



Maltese Cross 



Chicken-bill Star 



72 WINTER SPORTS 

cross." By a study of the units described it can be seen 
how they enter into such designs as the " tulip star" or 
the " chicken-bill " star. 

Hand-in-hand skating may be begun with the simple 
movement which Mr. Richardson thus describes: " Start 
by facing your partner, and each one execute a circle 
forward on the right foot, clasping hands while on the last 
half. Then as you both complete a full circle on the outer 
edge disengage hands, and each execute a circle separately 
on the outside of the centre one, coming back to the first 
movement, clasping hands again, and continue skating 
the inside circle either once around or twice together. 
After these three circles have been practised to good pur- 
pose, start on the inner circle, clasping hands as before, 
but holding until two complete revolutions have been 
made. Disengage hands halfway between the outside 
circles, and on the unmarked ice make an independent 
circle each. Then follow back to the centre circle and repeat 
at will the entire figure of five circles, sometimes called the 
'combination eights.' " 

The most fascinating movement on skates is the waltz 
step skated to music; or, as Continental skaters call it, 
"vaising on the ice." The movement is really simple, 
once one has learned to make the gliding change from one 
foot to the other at the turns. Begin with the left foot 
on the outside edge forward, as if you intended to make 
a figure three, but at the time you change direction let the 
right foot take the stroke on the outer edge backward, 
then the left outer edge forward again. As this repeated 
would keep the skaters moving in a not very large circle it 
is usual to substitute at regular intervals a change of edge- 



FIGURE SKATING 73 

roll on one foot for one of these figure three turns on both feet, 
thus beginning another large circle in the opposite direction. 
Done singly the movement, to a good skater, should be 
easy; it is done by a pair facing each other, moving by 
strokes of exactly the same length. Naturally from their 
position, one skates the forward curve as the other skates 
the backward, and the change from one to the other must 
be made in absolutely perfect time. But a fuller descrip- 
tion of it may better be left to an expert. t q ^ 



VALSING ON THE ICE 

A recent, and assuredly the most popular, modern de- 
velopment of the International style of figure-skating is 
"valsing on the ice"; that is, the execution by a lady and 
gentleman, in the ordinary valsing position, of gliding 
steps to valse music. 

Declared by some devotees of the art to be as far in 
advance of valsing in a ball-room as riding and bicycling 
are to walking, and by others to be "like flying" and 
" the most delightful form of motion ever devised by man, " 
the ice- valse has attained, since its first introduction at 
the London Rinks in 1895, an extraordinary vogue, almost 
amounting to a furore. Season after season it has gone 
on widening the circle of its votaries and increasing their 
ardor. In spite of stern discouragement from the " ram- 
rod" school, the valse is spreading wherever ice lies open 
to the steel-shod foot of man or woman. Even on those 
once jealously guarded preserves — the rinks of Anglo- 
Swiss mountain resorts — the triumphant " three-step" 
draws all within the sweep of its seductive vortex. . . . 

Who was the first inventor of the now famous skating- 
valse is not known. Attempts to valse on ice were made, 
we believe, as long ago as the late seventies and early 
eighties at Hampton Court, — then, and indeed a century 
or so before that time, one of the chief centres of figure- 

74 



VALSING ON THE ICE 75 

skating in the south of England, and one, moreover, where 
the traditions of the old English natural and free style — 
recently developed into the International — have always 
been preserved. But no satisfactory figure or movement 
suitable for a valsing pair appears to have been evolved. 

The date and place of origin, however, of the present 
ice-valse is known for certain; namely, the " Palais de 
Glace" in the Champs Elysees, in 1894. Thence it was 
brought, in the following year, by the instructors to the 
rinks in London; and so strong was the hold it at once 
took of the modern English skating world that abroad — 
in Berlin, St. Petersburg, Vienna, Brussels, Stockholm, 
St. Moritz, Davos, etc. — it is now generally known as 
"the English valse." 

Valsing on ice, simple as it may seem to the onlooker, 
and delightful as it certainly is, even for the indifferent 
performer, is by no means an easy accomplishment to 
excel in, even for a good figure- skater. To valse fairly well 
is not, perhaps, very difficult; but to valse very well in- 
deed — to be, in fact, in the very first rank — has so far 
been attained only by a very few skaters, and those chiefly 
ladies who are among the leading International figure- 
skaters of the world. 

The apparent similarity of valsing with skates on ice to 
valsing in shoes on a floor has led many to imagine that 
they may easily acquire the art, if only they can learn to 
skate a little. The resemblance between the two, however, 
is only superficial, consisting merely in the position of the 
partners, their revolutions round each other, and the execu- 
tion of the steps or figure to valse music. On the other 
hand, the ball-room steps, the length of which are meas- 



76 WINTER SPORTS 

ured in inches, are usually nothing much more than quick, 
rather jerky slides, while the essentials of the skating- 
valse steps — to be measured in feet, or rather yards — ■ 
are long, evenly sustained glides, with smooth, circling 
movements. Not, in fact, until the would-be valser on 
ice has entirely discarded all floor- valsing notions, especially 
anything like deux-temps, is there any chance for him or 
her to make substantial progress. 

Before describing the popular " three-step" or " Eng- 
lish" valse, it should be observed that there are several 
other steps, such as the " Grape-vine" valse, the " Jackson- 
Haines" valse, the "Swedish" valse, etc., which are some- 
times skated by a pair together to valse music. All these, 
however, may be dismissed from our present discussion. 
For, whatever may be their attraction — and some of 
them are unquestionably very charming — they are all 
composed of comparatively slow and cramped steps; 
and are all, to a certain extent, "two-footed" movements, 
and are not comparable to the "three-step" in speed, 
swing, or abandon; nor in the scope it offers for the 
rhythmic and sinuous grace which most enchants us in 
the valsing of the best lady skaters at Prince's. 

Passing now to analyze the figure : in its simplest form it 
consists of nothing more than an ordinary forward out- 
side edge on one foot — say the left — followed by a turn 
on to the backward edge of the same foot, and then a pass- 
ing — with a gliding step, not a "drop" — to the back- 
ward outside edge on the other foot ; that is, in the case 
supposed, the right. The figure is thus expressed in 
skating symbols : Lfo, tbi, Rbo. In practice the back in- 
side edge is often held by the first foot for a yard or two, 



VALSING ON THE ICE 77 

especially by efficient valsers, before they glide fully on to 
the outside edge on the other foot. By gradually turning 
the body, while tracing this last stroke, the skater will 
be in such a position as to be able to pass straight on to 
another forward outside edge on the original foot. An- 
other turn is made thereon to the inside and the figure 
repeated, it may be, several times. The rotation, in 
the case supposed, will be what is termed " direct" or 
" positive," the opposite to that of the hands of a watch. 

Dealing next with the combined execution of the move- 
ment or figure by a pair of valsers : it is obvious, from their 
relative positions, that when the man is moving on for- 
ward curves, his partner will be moving on backward 
ones, on opposite but reversed feet; when he is moving 
on backward curves, she will be on forward ones; and 
further, when he is cutting the three-turn, she will be 
passing from her backward outside edge on one foot, to 
her forward outside edge on her other foot ; and vice versa. 
It is the absolutely simultaneous execution of these move- 
ments by the two partners that constitutes the whole es- 
sential art of a pair " going together." 

Now, a continued repetition of these steps, in the same 
direction of rotation, will bring the valsing pair around 
in a circle, and, from an ice-valser's point of view, not a 
very large one — probably some forty feet in diameter. 
In order to avoid this, and escape the monotony of con- 
tinuously revolving in the same way, doing the same steps 
(or tracing the same curves) on the same edges, on the 
same feet, the figure is alternated, the rotation being 
changed to the reverse or negative (clockwise) direction, 
and the three-turns cut by the pair on their right feet. 



78 



WINTER SPORTS 



Usually two or three three-turns are done on the left foot 
— the direct or positive rotation — to one or two on the 
right — the reverse or nega- 
tive — when the rotation is 
changed back again to the 
direct. In this way the gen- 
eral progression of the valsers 
will be in the positive direc- 
tion around the rink. If, on 
the other hand, two or three 
three-turns are done on the 
right foot to one or two on 
the left, the general progres- 
sion of the valsers will of 
course be in the reverse 
direction ; while if an equal 
number are done alternately 
on each foot, the general 
progression would be in a 
straight direction down the 
rink, the skaters travelling 
over a very large serpentine 
line, as shown in the accom- 
panying diagram. 

Now as to the change of 
rotation, on the satisfactory 
execution of which so much 
of the grace and charm of 

Diagram of two three-turns skated the valse-figure depends: 
alternately in each direction showing h ow £ g ft to fog effected? 

how the change of rotation is effected in * m 

vaising on the ice. Observing, to begin with, 




VALSING ON THE ICE 79 

that it is usually done while the man, who is leading and 
steering, is moving on a forward curve, when his partner 
will, of course, be on a backward one, let us first take 
the case of a change from a direct to the reverse. In 
this case the man, instead of cutting a three-turn when 
on his left forward outside edge, rocks over, after trac- 
ing there on a fair-sized curve, to the forward outside edge 
on his right foot and cuts a three-turn on that foot. At 
the same moment his partner, instead of passing from her 
right backward outside edge to a forward outside edge 
on her left foot, must by some means sway over to the 
backward outside edge of that foot, and from that stroke 
pass to a forward outside on the right. 

Now this combined movement of rotation is, by nineteen 
out of twenty pairs who valse on the ice, effected by 
means of a sort of sudden jerk, the lady being forced over 
by her partner from a curve in one direction to a curve in 
the reverse direction; whilst he himself crosses one foot 
over the other in order to obtain the necessary leverage. 
In so doing he probably lifts up his crossing leg as though 
he were walking upstairs ; distorts both curves as he plants 
one skate down over the other ; and, in the process, misses 
the beat of the valse music, so that all time and rhythm 
are usually lost. In fact, he scrabbles over it, instead 
of skating it ; and in the effort the pair tend to move 
away from each other, and to lose that absolute smooth- 
ness and unity of movement which are essential to the 
proper execution of the valse. 

It is only by careful observation of the practice of the 
half-dozen best lady valsers that we are able to detect 
the secret of how the changing; movement is satisfactorily 



8o WINTER SPORTS 

accomplished — a movement which is the very crux of 
the skating- valse, and on which, as we have already said, 
its main effect and charm depend. It is in this way : 
the lady, instead of passing straight from the backward 
outside edge on one foot to the same edge on her other foot, 
should glide over by a gradual change of edge, from the 
outside to the inside, on the first foot, tracing thereon an 
inside curve, often several yards long, before passing from 
that foot to the backward outside edge on the other. This 
change of edge will enable her partner — who at the same 
time changes from his forward outside to a curve on the 
inside — to skate round her smoothly and easily at the 
proper angle; and their change of rotation will therefore 
be effected by an easy, even, floating swing of the body, 
delightful to behold, and still more delightful to experi- 
ence. It is true that many expert men valsers, though 
changing the rotation by means of the change of edge, 
instead of the jerk, yet assist themselves by the crossing 
step. But the best of these — especially the instructors 
— endeavor to do so as smoothly as practicable, and in 
such a manner as to disguise the device as much as possible, 
by just slipping one foot over the other in a sort of gliding 
step. Done in this way, with true curves and on the 
beats of the music, it is quite a legitimate and satisfactory 
alternative to the uncrossed step. Indeed, in the vast 
majority of cases, where the lady does not happen to be 
in the very first flight of ice-valsers, it is the only possible 
way for the man to get his partner round. It might seem 
that if the man uses the crossing step, the lady, not to 
mar the perfect symmetry of their combined movement, 
ought herself perhaps to use the back crossing step ; this, 



VALSING ON THE ICE 81 

however, is very rarely done. It has been tried, but so far 
with very indifferent success. In practice it has been found 
even to interfere with the flow of the movement, and to 
check the speed — its main advantage seeming to be the 
imparting of a rather pretty swing or swish to the ladies' 
skirts. 

It will be seen that such a method of changing the rota- 
tion has the no small advantage of enabling the pair to 
catch easily the beats of the time of the valse music for 
the several steps and turns. This is very important on 
a crowded rink, where valsers have frequently to shorten, 
lengthen, or vary their steps, in order to steer clear of 
other skaters ; and where it requires no little skill to pur- 
sue an even unperturbed course, preserving throughout 
the proper time and rhythm of the dance, amid a throng 
of indifferent performers. 

A few hints must now be given as to the means whereb}/ 
a skater may acquire real proficiency in valsing. First 
and foremost, of course, comes practice, especially prac- 
tice in skating the figure alone. This is best done by 
skating it in the form of an "eight" to a centre, first with 
one three-turn to each circle, next with two, then with three 
three- turns, great care being taken to skate the figure 
symmetrically and to change the rotation easily and 
evenly at the centre of the " eight"; that is, where the 
two circles intersect or meet. 

Careful attention must also be given to the tracing of 
"true" curves, and the clean, smooth cutting of the turns. 
Only when this can be done with absolute sureness and 
precision need the practicer think of trying to valse with 
any one else. It is really useless for a skater to try, as one 



82 WINTER SPORTS 

often sees beginners trying, to valse with a partner before 
being able to do the figure alone, sometimes before being 
able even to cut a simple three-turn. But when the figure 
can be done fairly well alone, a correct style can best be 
acquired by constant practice with an expert, round and 
round an " eight," particular care being paid to its proper 
execution, in unison one with another, so that every move- 
ment shall be exactly together, and the proper, upright, and 
parallel position maintained by both throughout. 1 

Among other aids to proficiency may be reckoned the 
candid criticism of onlookers, which should be readily 
invited, especially of those who understand in what the 
real essence of good ice-valsing consists. Another aid is 
for a lady occasionally to valse with another, taking the 
man's part; whereby she may better appreciate her 
partner's difficulties, and more easily learn the proper 
movement and rhythm of the valse. 

A change and variety of partners, also, will help to de- 
velop in the valser the flexibility, the responsiveness, and 
the complete harmony, which are absolutely essential to 
the skating valse. Not that really very good valsers, 
whose style has been perfected, gain any great advantage 
by valsing with indifferent performers. On the contrary, 
the very adaptability to a partner's movement, which is 
one of the most important elements in good ice-valsing, 
would be just the very thing which, with a lot of clumsy 

1 In some places where an expert partner is not easily found, two learners 
will qualify for skating together by practising to the music of a phonograph, 
each using the same tune, played in the same time, and agreeing before- 
hand on the diameter of the two circles which will form their practice 
"eight," unless the available ice is large enough to admit of simultaneous 
practice on separate "eights" to the same music. 



VALSING ON THE ICE 



83 




THE LADY'S STEPS THE MAN'S STEPS 

Valsing Practice in the Form of an "Eight" 

The thick lines represent the strokes on the right foot, the thin lines 

those on the left. 



84 WINTER SPORTS 

partners, might end in taking off the highly * tempered 
edge of a perfect style. 

But practice, in any case, is above all the thing abso- 
lutely essential, even to those with every natural aptitude 
and acquired skill, to produce a really first-rate valser, 
practice constant, continuous, and varied. Few beginners, 
and still fewer onlookers, have any idea of the hours of 
training that have gone to the making of the really first- 
class performers. Like the dancer on the stage, the lady 
valser on the rink, who would maintain her preeminence, 
cannot afford to allow her muscles and joints to grow stiff 
by want of exercise. _ ERNEgT Law _ 

Reprinted by permission of Edward Arnold, Publisher, 
from The Book of Winter Sports. London, 1908. 



THE POINTS OF VALSING FORM 

The following notes on the points of valsing form are the 
groundwork of the " analysis of form," whereon rests the 
system of marks in figure-skating competitions embodied in 
the rules adopted by Prince's Skating Club and the St. 
Moritz International Skating Club, and likely to be the 
most universal basis of judging competitions in valsing on 
the ice wherever skating is a popular sport. They are the 
outcome of careful observation and analysis of the form and 
style of all the best valsers in Europe during the last four 
or five years; and before being finally settled have been 
submitted to each of them for comments and criticism. As 
now systematized, it is hoped that they may prove of 
assistance, not only to judges and competitors, but also to 
all those who aspire to share in the highest enjoyment of 
valsing on ice. 

i. Erect carriage and parallel position. — Head erect; 
no stooping, nor hunching up of the shoulders, nor leaning 
forward ; no doubling at the waist nor sideways twisting ; 
but the whole body upright, pliable, flexible, and elastic. 
"Parallel position" means that each partner should be oppo- 
site and square to the other. The perfect and continuous 
maintenance of this position is difficult, and not often at- 
tained, especially during the effecting of the change of rota- 
tion from the direct to the reverse, just when the man 
85 



86 WINTER SPORTS 

passes from the outside edge forward on the left foot, 
preparatory to cutting the three- turn thereon — which is 
identical with the moment when the lady rocks from her 
right outside back edge to her left outside back. At this 
moment there always seems to be a strong tendency for the 
partners to "go away" from each other, and the space be- 
tween them to open out, so that they are slantwise, instead of 
opposite or parallel to each other. No such tendency shows 
itself when changing the rotation from the reverse to the 
direct. 

As to the man's holding of his partner, his right arm should 
hold her firmly round the waist, but quite lightly and easily ; 
while his left, which ought neither to be bowed, nor stretched 
out stiffly, nor stuck up high above his shoulder, should be 
carried lightly and freely, rather below the level of his 
shoulder, his hand not clutching, but just lightly holding 
his partner's. Her right arm and hand should be held in 
the same easy way ; her left being placed on his shoulder or 
his arm. 

There should be no sudden movement of the shoulders or 
head ; especially no turning of the head to look round before 
cutting the three-turn. 

2. Accurate curves and smooth turns. — That is, all curves 
should be segments of true circles, not irregular curved lines ; 
they should be long and sustained, flowing evenly into each 
other, not merely short, quick, jerky strokes. They should 
be skated with firmness and precision, and as a general rule 
be held for something like a fourth or a third of a circle, 
both before and after the turn is cut. They should be 
symmetrical in shape, scale, and size, whether reverse or 
direct; and travelled over at an even and uniform speed, 



THE POINTS OF VALSING FORM 87 

which should be preserved throughout all the component 
parts of the valse figure, though the general pace should vary 
with the modulations of time in the music. The turns should 
be "pure swung turns," smoothly cut, without jerk, whisk, or 
wrench — the revolving of the body continuing evenly while 
the turn is being cut, and the motion being so smooth and 
regular, as well before as after the turn, that the precise 
instant when the blade of the skate passes over from the 
outside to the inside edge should be scarcely perceptible. 
The passing from the inside back edge after the turn to the 
outside back on the other foot should be a smooth, gliding 
movement, with nothing of a hop or "drop" about it. 
Nothing is more destructive of all good and graceful valsing 
than a disregard of this injunction. 

3. Suppleness , pliancy, and flexibility. — All parts of the 
body of each valser — neck, shoulders, back, waist, hips, 
knees, ankles — should move with suppleness and flexibility, 
but yet in unison with all the movements of the other, so that 
the joint result should be an elastic bending of the move- 
ments of the two. 

4. Grace. — This element in valsing on ice, as in any other 
art or exercise, is easier to note as an essential one in a 
satisfactory execution of the dance, than to analyze or define. 
Every one recognizes "grace" when they see it, but all find 
it most difficult to describe. Moreover, grace in movement 
must always mainly depend on the figure and natural apti- 
tude. But that the figure itself is susceptible of the most 
extraordinary improvement by skating — more than by 
any other known exercise — has been proved by very many 
cases over and over again. . . . But on the other hand, if 
the carriage and position be correct ; if the skating of all the 



S8 WINTER SPORTS 

curves and turns be true ; and if the movement of the pair 
together be easy, flexible, and harmonious, then the resultant 
effect is certain to be — indeed, must be — graceful. 

5. Striking at the same identical moment. — This signifies 
that the lady's outside back curves should be begun at the 
identical moment that her partner begins his corresponding 
forward curves, and vice versa, the feet of each partner 
being opposite, and the curves "in line," or nearly so, and 
in any case always concentric. The man should be 
careful not to "plunge" when striking; nor to appear to 
push or drive the lady, but should glide smoothly and 
quietly, steering her lightly and easily. The lady, on her 
part, should not "pull"; nor should she lean, still less 
hang, on her partner; but should move by her own skat- 
ing, while responding quickly and easily to all his move- 
ments. The free leg of the skater should swing in concert 
with the tracing leg, so as to assist the general movement. 
It should never be stuck out stiffly behind, nor to the side ; 
but should sway flexibly, and at such a reasonable distance 
from the other that the foot is carried not far from the ice, 
the toe always pointing downwards and outwards. 

6. Absolutely simultaneous rotation. — The pair should 
revolve round each other in curves as nearly as may be con- 
centric ; the man cutting his three-turn as nearly as pos- 
sible at the precise moment at which his partner passes from 
the outside backward edge on one foot to the outside edge 
forward on the other — and vice versa. The two valsers, 
in fact, should move without any perceptible effort, almost 
unconsciously, and without any appearance of steering, 
like one revolving body. The valser when passing from the 
outside backward edge on one foot to the forward edge on the 



THE POINTS OF VALSING FORM 89 

other should do so on a true curve, without any dribbling 
on a false inside edge, or any slithering on the flat of the 
blade. When changing from the direct to the reverse, or 
vice versa, the man will be greatly assisted by his partner, 
if, at the end of her outside back curve, she helps the change 
of their rotation by putting in a sharp curly change of edge 
on to the inside. This will enable her to "get back," or 
be "got back," as the expression is, without jerking, and 
without being forced over by her partner, and to glide over 
to the other foot with absolute smoothness and lightness. 
The man will then not necessarily have to cross his feet, and 
the result will be that the change of rotation of the pair will 
be effected by a smooth floating motion without any ap- 
pearance of effort or strain. 

7. Unity and harmony of movement. — This point is pretty 
well implied in the six foregoing ones, and will naturally 
result if those others are properly observed. One easy cru- 
cial test of unity of movement is to note whether the man's 
left shoulder and the lady's right are always at exactly the 
same distance from each other ; another is to observe whether 
the heads of the pair are always at the same relative level. 
This is important if the lady valses with much undulatory 
movement ; for if the man remains too rigidly upright, his 
partner will appear to be bobbing up and down — to "dip" 
as it is called — a defect which in that case will be entirely 
due to him and not to her. 

8. Time to the music. — Too often disregarded by valsers 
on ice, this point is one of the most important of all ; and 
its accurate observance is essential to the grace and charm 
of the dance. Time is kept by striking — that is, starting 
each curve — and by turning — that is, cutting each 



9 o WINTER SPORTS 

three- turn on an accented note of the valse music. This, 
however, can only be satisfactorily achieved by marking 
in this manner every alternate beat. The attempt to mark 
in this manner every accented note is practically hopeless 
in the skating valse, and can only result in an entire failure 
to keep time at all, the valse then degenerating into a mere 
unrhythmical spin. This is owing to all movements on ice 
being essentially and necessarily long and gliding, and in- 
volving an appreciable time to execute. For the same 
reason, it is very important that the valses selected for vals- 
ing on ice should be in slow-measured time, such as are known 
as the " valses lentes," and that they should be played as 
slowly, and, as one might say, as " dreamily "and "glidingly " 
as possible, subject, of course, to the melody of the music 
not being impaired thereby. 

9. Rhythmic undulatory movement. — This is a quality 
occasionally superadded to other elements of the best ice- 
valsing, but so rare and impalpable as to be very difficult to 
analyze or describe. Briefly, it may be described as an ex- 
pression or marking of the cadences and rhythm of the music 
by a sympathetic motion of the body in unison therewith ; 
for its attainment it is essential that the curves should be 
true, steady, long- sustained, and sweeping, so that the 
undulations of the body may be even and gradual, and pass 
musically one into another. 

General observations. — The rule of the International 
Skating Union that : ' ' Other things being equal, higher marks 
will be awarded for greater length of sweep and size of curve, 
which, of course, will involve greater speed over the ice, 
provided true time to the music be kept" — applies only 
in so far as the grace and harmony of the general movement 



THE POINTS OF VALSING FORM 91 

is not marred by any appearance of effort ; and subject to 
all the curves being proportionate in scale, and the speed 
even and uniform throughout, though it may vary with 
the varying rhythm of the music. 

It must also be understood that the foregoing notes do 
not at all aim at fettering the individual style and form of the 
valsers. On the contrary, these are meant to be left entirely 
to the taste of each skater. So long as the valsers hold 
themselves correctly and move gracefully together, they are 
free to use either long curves or short; quick-following 
turns one after another, or slow-measured alternate rota- 
tions, direct and reverse ; large "eights," or small, all exe- 
cuted either in double quick or double slow time ; the pair 
varying the size, motion, action, and style of their steps at 
their will, provided they do so rhythmically to the music. 

— Ernest Law. 

Reprinted by permission from The Book of Winter 
Sports, published by Edward Arnold, 1908. 

A Few Valses Suitable for the Ice 

" Ciribiribin " " Dans la Nuit " 

"Cest Joi" "SobrelasOlas" 

' ' Venus on Earth " " Amoreuse ' ' 

" The Merry Widow " " Caressante " 

" La France" "Chorister" 

" Gold and Silver " " Sourire d'Avril " 

"La Lettre de Manon" " Valse Bleue " 

"Fascination" "Manola," etc. 



HUMORS OF SKATING 

Looking back on some of the sports pursued at Mon- 
tana, in Switzerland, that of skating occupies a prominent 
place in the memory, though no one could compare the 
skill of the performers there with exhibitions at Villars. 
Yet I will make bold to say that the skating, greatly in- 
ferior though it may be to that of the more renowned and 
spacious rinks, is in one respect too good. It misses some 
of the exquisite humors to be witnessed in Regent's Park, 
and which depend not so much on the skill of the performers 
as on their want of it. Never at Montana, but frequently 
in England, there is the suggestive incident of two perfect 
strangers, generally of different sexes, colliding by some 
slight miscalculation with each other, and, to save a sudden 
fall, clinging with a fervid embrace round the waist or neck 
or either arm each of the other, and holding on trustfully 
and wholeheartedly till the errant feet are steadied and the 
parties, at last confusedly recognizing the precise situation, 
part with hastily murmured apologies, meeting thus once 
and never again, between the cradle and the grave. One 
may speculate whether such a slashing of atoms has been 
recorded in the evening diary by either of those concerned, 
or whether it has in the whirligig of time led to some no less 
fervid but less fleeting union, and been the beginning of a 
life-history of conjugal peace. 
92 



HUMORS OF SKATING 93 

Another humor of the ice I can recall which unfortu- 
nately could not be reproduced in Switzerland. Some forty 
years ago, no less, we repaired for an afternoon's skating 
to the Welsh Harp, Hendon. I have never been there since, 
but can remember the grand expanse of inferior ice and the 
huge crowd on it. People were standing in thick clusters, 
talking and laughing, or wildly whirling about or patiently 
practising rudimentary figures where space allowed. One 
youth of the second sort was speeding round the lake as 
hard as he could go, and was dashing towards a group of 
persons intending presumably to skim past them without 
personal contact. Unfortunately a young man on the out- 
side, while talking harmless vapidities to his lady friend, 
moved about a foot outwards, just at the wrong moment, 
and about half of his frame was suddenly caught in the onset 
of the "scorcher." The latter buffeted him violently, and 
careered on, not looking round. The victim of his rough- 
ings was not at once knocked down, but set rotating. His 
staggers, though obviously abortive from the start, for a 
second or two took that form. He waltzed alone, uneasily, 
and with irregular lurches like a top just before it falls; 
and while this was going on, he began his remonstrance in 
language, it seemed to me, of remarkable self-restraint : 
" Sir, I think you might at least stop and apologize when you 
knock a man down." So we all thought, but this was just 
what the scorcher did not do ; and the complainant who 
began his plea while still rotating continued it in a crescendo 
of gathering emotion, as the other was now almost out of 
hearing, and ended it with a loud shout in a sitting posture, 
the voice rising as the body sank. It was difficult not to 
apprehend that his conduct, though kept well within bounds, 



94 WINTER SPORTS 

may not have enhanced his dignity in the eyes of Phyllis ; 
and indeed a promising love-affair may have been rudely 
checked as he sat on the ice patiently restoring his bowler 
hat to its original shape, and yelling till his voice cracked 
after a wholly indifferent stranger. But pathetic though the 
incident was, from some points of view I could not help 
being glad that it happened so near to where we were 
standing ; and forgetting it is out of the question now. 

Different in its appeal to the imagination was a catas- 
trophe that occurred to a tall bearded skater very soon after 
the collision above described. We were standing talking in a 
small group, in a crowded quarter of the lake, when a sin- 
gular noise made us turn our heads. It was a mixture of a 
hiss and a rumble, and the rapid crescendo of it made the 
less robust of our party fear an approaching mischief. But 
there was nothing to be alarmed at. The skater had fallen, 
and was gliding rapidly over the ice in the position which he 
had involuntarily assumed — that is to say, quite at full 
length on his stomach, and proceeding not sideways nor 
feet foremost, but as a tobogganer head foremost, the two 
hands being flat on the surface close by the shoulders. He 
must have been going at a rare pace originally, as none of 
us had even heard his fall, and he had been slipping along 
for an unknown distance as he passed us, the pace just 
beginning to slacken. The most picturesque fact about him 
was the heap of ice fragments which gathered in front of his 
beard as he swept along, and formed a novel setting for the 
fixed and glassy resignation of his face. We thought we 
had never before seen a human being so like an express 
train. 

But as I have already remarked, such amenities of a 



HUMORS OF SKATING 95 

pastime as these are not to be seen in Switzerland. People 
skate too well to collide, except of course at hockey, but then 
it is part of the day's work, and misses the glorious element 
of the unexpected. And they are too decorous to get up 
sufficient speed for the superb onset of our " scorcher" or 
the prone onrush of the bearded man. Whatever other 
attractions hale us to Montana, we must acquiesce in the loss 
of these subtle sidelights on human society ; and the pity of 
it is that owing to the infrequency of frost in modern Eng- 
land, they tend to become merely the touching memory of a 
long-past dream. 

None the less the skating-rink is a delicious spot, especially 
at the luncheon-hour when flushed and hungry skaters and 
curlers gather in friendly groups round the well-earned prog. 
There were several days last January when the interior of 
the shed facing the sun was too hot for comfort, but outside 
it was always perfect ; sometimes a very gentle breeze, 
ordinarily nothing but the matchless tingle of the crisp 
unmoving air. And occasionally it comes about that a 
trained exhibitor of the English or Continental style of 
skating would stray over from Villars to Montana, either to 
play in a bandy match or for social reasons, and would give 
us the delight of watching the Mohawks done to perfection 
and with consummate ease, or better still, a whole series of 
complex evolutions gone through by two ladies in combina- 
tion. Nothing prettier could well be imagined, except of 
course a flight of ten thousand starlings in September. 

— Reginald Cleaver. 

From Winter Sport in Switzerland. 



SKATING IN HOLLAND 

Skating in Holland is not merely a favorite amusement, 
it is a common mode of locomotion. The peasant skates 
to market, the mechanic to his work, the tradesman 
to his business, whole families skate from their country 
homes to the town, with their bags and baskets on their 
backs, or in sledges they draw along with them. Skating 
is as easy and natural to them as walking, and they skim 
over the ice with such speed that the eye has some difficulty 
in following them. In former years wagers were often 
laid among the most swift Dutch skaters, as to who could 
keep up with a stated train, skating upon the canals that 
run parallel to the railway, and in most cases, not only 
did the skaters keep up with the engine, but they would 
at times shoot forward and keep ahead of it for a few 
minutes. People skate from The Hague to Amsterdam 
and back again the same day; the Utrecht University 
students leave that town in the morning, dine at Amster- 
dam, and are at home before night ; the wager of going 
from Amsterdam to Leyden in little more than an hour has 
several times been laid and won. And it is not only the 
wonderful speed, but the unerring surefootedness with 
which such long journeys are accomplished that is worthy 
of admiration. There are peasants who skate by night 
from one town to another. Young men go from Rotter- 
96 





• '^ : -° ^Ifcz^^ 



A PEASANT BOY OF VEERE ON SKATES. 



SKATING IN HOLLAND 07 

dam to Gouda, at Gouda they buy a long pipe of chalk 
and skate back to Rotterdam, carrying it safe and sound 
in their hand. Sometimes as one is walking by a canal, 
a human figure will be seen to shoot past like an arrow 
and vanish almost as soon as caught sight of; it is some 
country lassie carrying milk to town. Besides the skaters 
there are sledges of every shape and size ; sledges pushed 
along by a skater, sledges drawn by horses, sledges pro- 
pelled by means of two spiked sticks, wielded by the person 
sitting inside ; wheelless carts and carriages placed upon 
two wonderful planks, which glide along the frozen snow 
as swiftly as the sledges. Upon festive occasion even the 
Scheveningen fishing-craft have been known to appear in 
the snow-covered streets in The Hague. Formerly ships 
with all sails spread were sometimes made to glide over the 
ice upon the large rivers, and so rapid was their progress 
that the faces of those on board were reduced to a pitiful 
state from exposure to the cutting wind such as might well 
make one shudder, and few indeed were the people daring 
enough to undergo this ordeal. 

The finest fetes in Holland take place on the ice. At 
Rotterdam, when the Meuse is frozen over, it becomes 
the favorite resort for social gatherings and amusements. 
The snow is swept away so as to leave the ice as clear 
as a floor of glass ; cafes, eating-houses, fancy cottages, 
booths for theatrical performances, crop up on all sides 
upon it ; by night it is lighted up ; by day it is thronged 
with skaters of every age, sex, and rank. In other towns, 
especially in Friesland, which is the classic home of the 
art, there are skating clubs that promote public contests 
and give away prizes. Poles and flagstaffs are erected 



98 WINTER SPORTS 

along the canal banks ; stands and stockades are erected ; 
a huge multitude of people from the neighboring villages 
flock together ; the cream of local society is present ; bands 
of music play uninterruptedly; the skaters appear in 
special costumes, the women all wearing trousers; races 
for men alone are run, then the women compete among 
themselves, then men and women in pairs, and the names of 
the winners are inscribed in the annals of the art and 
acquire lasting renown. 

There are two distinct schools of skating in Holland, — 
the Dutch school proper and the Frisian school, each 
of which uses a different shape of skate. The Frisian 
school, which is the oldest, aims solely at speed ; the Dutch 
school strives to attain grace as well. The Frisian runs 
on direct before him, swerving neither to the right nor 
left, his eye fixed upon his goal, his body bending forward 
in that direction; the Dutchman proceeds by zigzags, 
turning alternately to the right and the left, by a move- 
ment of the hips. The Frisian is the arrow ; the Dutchman 
the giddy rocket. The Dutch school suits women best. 
The Amsterdam, Hague, and Rotterdam ladies are indeed 
the most graceful skaters in the United Provinces. They 
begin to skate as children, and continue it as girls and 
married women, simultaneously reaching the crowning 
point of their beauty and their art, and their little skates 
draw from the ice they skim over the sparks that set so 
many hearts on fire. Some ladies attain to a marvellous 
degree of perfection. Those who have seen them skate 
aver that no description can give an adequate description 
of the graceful bends and curves, the countless soft and 
becoming attitudes they display in their swallow or butter- 



SKATING IN HOLLAND 99 

fly-like flight, or how completely their placid beauty is 
metamorphosed and enlivened by the exercise, which 
the intricate manoeuvres they perform involve. The 
men are in no wise behind the softer sex. They per- 
form all sorts of games and difficult feats upon the ice; 
some cut fanciful figures or sentimental sentences in their 
circling progress, others spin round with incredible velocity 
and then skim a long way backwards, standing upon one 
leg, others glide about in hundreds of complicated twists 
and turns, all clearly defined in very small compass, either 
doubled up or standing upright, in the most distorted 
postures, bending down like gutta-percha puppets, set in 
motion by a hidden spring. 

The first day the canals can show a sheet of ice thick 
enough to skate upon is a red-letter day in a Dutch town. 
Early-rising skaters, who have put the ice to the test at 
the break of day, spread the news, the papers triumphantly 
proclaim it. flocks cf children shouting with joy scatter all 
over the streets, servants, male and female, ask their master's 
leave to go out, with a look that denotes their fixed determi- 
nation of rebelling should their request be met by a refusal, 
old ladies forget their age and ailments and rush to the 
canals to compete with their friends and daughters, the large 
pond in the centre of the town at The Hague, near the 
Binnenhof, is carried by storm by a multitude of people, 
elbowing and pushing each other, mingling in one confused, 
seething mass, like a crowd seized by a fit of dizziness ; 
the cream of the aristocracy skate upon a pond in the park, 
and there officers, ladies, M.P.'s, students, old men, and 
boys may be distinguished, flitting here and there in the 
falling snow, a crowd of spectators flocking around them, 



ioo WINTER SPORTS 

the loud music of the military bands lending additional 
animation to the merry scene, and the great disk of the 
Netherlands sun shining through the giant beeches and 
sending them its last dazzling farewell ere it sinks below 
the horizon. 

When the snow is firm enough, the sleighing begins 
in good earnest. Every family has its own sleigh, and at 
the hour for driving out, hundreds of them may be seen 
issuing forth. They rush swiftly past in long strings, 
two or three abreast, some in the shape of shells, others 
made to imitate swans or dragons, boats and coaches, 
gayly painted and gilt, drawn by horses covered with costly 
furs and smart trappings, with feathers and rosettes about 
their heads, their harness studded with glittering orna- 
ments, bearing ladies warmly wrapped up in sable, beaver, 
and Siberian fox. The horses shake their heads and toss 
their manes, shrouded in the vapor that rises from them, 
bespangled with myriads of tiny icicles ; the sleighs spring 
forward ; the snow flies round them like silver foam, and 
the glittering headlong procession rushes past and is lost 
to sight, like a whirlwind sweeping over fields of lilies 
and jasmine. By night when the torchlight drives take 
place, the countless flamelets flashing by and coursing 
after each other through the silent town, throwing vivid 
patches of light upon the snow and ice, look like a gigantic 
diabolical combat, witnessed by the spectre of Philip II; 
gazing down upon them from the summit of the Binnenhof 

tower - -E.DeAmicis. 



SKATE-SAILING 

Skate-sailing seems never to have had quite the popu- 
larity which so fine a winter sport deserves. One need 
not be an exceptionally expert skater to enjoy it ; any man 
who understands how to sail a small boat can catch the 
trick of ice-sailing in his first trial ; it offers the widest 
scope for the experimenter's joy in trying out one type 
or another of sail; it can be enjoyed alone, or one may 
take pleasant company along, either in tow or as a member 
of "the crew of the captain's gig." Better yet, the pleasant 
company may have a sail of her own, for the sport does 
not require more strength and skill than many a girl com- 
mands. One might sing, misquoting Kay's skating song : 

Let poets harp on the " rolling main "; 
We'll sing the jubilant crystal plain, 
With its merry skaters in winter gear, 
And its band of music to charm the ear. 
Hurray for the Ice with its pretty fleet! 
For not half so graceful, half so neat, 
Are white ships scudding before the gale, 
As bonny young ladies "under sail," 

While trimly, primly — left and right — 
They curve and swerve, and poise and wheel, 

Seeking with hearts and faces bright, 
Pleasure and health on the gleaming steel. 



102 WINTER SPORTS 

The only sport which compares with it is ice-yachting, 
or its modern development, ice-motoring ; but in its entire 
lack of expensive apparatus it is available a hundred 
times to the motor's once and leaves the user freer to enjoy 
the pleasure of sensations a little nearer those of flying 
than any other can afford. And it is well to remember 
that the range of possible mishaps is far narrower, and that 
if one should by accident or storm be stalled, he may fold 
his sail into a bundle weighing from seven to ten pounds, 
hang his skates around his neck, and "hike" for the nearest 
trolley without abandoning (or spending time rinding shelter 
for) a piece of costly property. As for speed, a man may 
choose his own up to thirty miles an hour — with a fresh 
wind before the beam — or even forty miles under ex- 
ceptionally good conditions. Skate-sailing is, in short, 
exciting enough for any sport-loving man; yet the skate- 
sail, in its proper proportion, can be managed by any boy or 
girl old enough to skate well. 

The types vary most widely ; there is the double- 
diamond sail invented by Charles Ledyard Norton, a 
favorite among the boys, made by fastening a light diamond- 
shaped frame on which has been stretched drilling or 
cotton twist at either end of a horizontal spar, held back 
of the skater and tipped and turned in tacking by the 
skater's extended hands holding the spar; what is often 
called the Cape Vincent rig is somewhat triangular, or 
rather of the shape of the space between a bow and its 
cord when the cord is stretched to the full length of the 
arrow, supposing that the mainyard of the sail is the bow, 
and a light spar takes the position of an arrow with the notch 
resting on the cord and the point slipped into a place pre- 



SKATE-SAILING 103 

pared to hold it at the centre of the mainyard. It will 
be seen that such a sail can be very easily furled by pulling 
the point from its socket. Still another pattern which 
has been fully described in Outing and elsewhere is of the 
shape of a pennant ; its long bamboo yard can be shifted 
at will from one shoulder to the other, or on occasion its 
short upright spar may be grasped in both hands and 
held horizontally with the sail fluttering out behind 
harmlessly as the skater comes round in the teeth of the 
wind. 

As has happened before in the case of the snow-shoe or the 
toboggan, it is true, however, that very little real improve- 
ment seems to have been made over the earliest forms 
used, and in the case of the skate-sail one of these is the 
Swedish sail. This differs from one popular shape of 
English sail in being less narrow; where an English sail, 
for example, may have a length of about nine feet and a 
height of four feet, a Swedish sail is more likely to be nine 
feet long at its base only, tapering to about five in an ex- 
treme height of seven feet. Sometimes it is seen with 
an even narrower top. J. M. Heathcote thus describes a 
skate-sail owned by W. F. Adams of the London Skating 
Club and made for him in Stockholm : — 

"It is of white duck, about seven feet in height, about 
nine feet wide at its base, tapering to about three feet at 
the top ; the spars, which are made of light bamboo, con- 
sist of a strong but light mainyard, and of two lighter 
spars, to which the sides of the sail are fastened from top 
to bottom. The sail is provided with two sets of reef 
points on one side, but these are hardly adequate ; it would 
be well to be able to shorten sail on both sides in rough 



io 4 WINTER SPORTS 

weather. The spars are so jointed that they can readily 
be put together or taken to pieces ; when they are strapped 
together and the sail is neatly folded, the dimensions of 
the apparatus are inconsiderable. Its weight and its 
appearance are not very different from those of a salmon- 
rod and a mackintosh. 

"Whether he is 'going free' or ' beating to windward/ 
the navigator must always keep the sail between himself 
and the wind. When the wind is dead aft, the skater 
carries the yard behind him on a level with his shoulders, 
holding it in position with both hands ; his body is nearly 
erect, and his feet parallel with one another, about six 
or eight inches apart. When he wishes to 'go about' 
he must remember that he must not act as he would if 
he were on board a yacht — run the boat's head into the 
wind, and get way on the new tack; he must rather 
wear himself, at the same time shifting the mainyard from 
one shoulder to the other, turning his body back to the 
sail, changing his position so that what was the hind part 
of the sail on one tack becomes the fore part on the next, 
and grasping the port spar with the left hand if on the 
port tack, or the starboard spar with the right hand if 
on the starboard tack. The employed arm and shoulder 
will now be thrown forward, the unemployed arm being 
left free; the body must lean towards the direction from 
which the wind is blowing, the foot which corresponds 
with the employed arm, i.e. the foot which is to wind- 
ward, being in front of the other foot, the prows of both 
skates pointing in the line of intended motion. At each 
successive tack the position of the body, shoulder, foot, 
and hand must be shifted; but these manoeuvres can be 



SKATE-SAILING 105 

executed in a few seconds by a practised skater with- 
out any danger of 'missing stays' or any other mishap." 

The prudent beginner might well venture out at first 
with a slightly smaller sail and in only a moderate breeze. 
The manner of sailing before the wind is simple enough, 
and he may well let himself go thus until the first dis- 
concerting feeling that he is skating on nothing is passed ; 
the slight "lift" of the sail will make him wish that he 
had put a little ballast in his pockets, but in a few moments 
he will have discovered the art of keeping his balance. 

The construction of a serviceable skate-sail is very simple, 
although both the size of the sail and the strength of the 
mainyard, or boom, depend in some degree upon the kind 
of wind to be expected in the locality where it is to be 
used. On a hill-guarded freshwater lake and on the wind- 
swept Hudson very different sails might be available. 
In general, the mainyard, or boom, should be of strong 
bamboo, say two inches in diameter and in length about 
four inches longer than the sail is wide at the point which, 
as the sail is held in sailing, is shoulder high ; thus, a sail 
for a single skater which is to be about seven feet at the 
base tapering to a width of five feet in a height of six feet, 
might have its boom, which is to rest on the shoulder, six 
feet four inches long. Near each end must be fastened 
crotches to hold the upright spars. The upright spar, or 
gaff, may be of lighter bamboo, say one inch and a half, 
and is attached to the reenforced edge of the sail by means 
of eyelets such as are inserted in tent flies or by rings sewed 
on firmly. In the sail of the dimensions given above the 
spars would be fixed in the crotches of the main boom so 
that about two feet four inches of the height of the sail is 



106 WINTER SPORTS 

above the boom and about three feet eight inches below it. 
A " sheet" or rope extending from the lower corner to be 
held in the skater's free hand is an essential ; some hold 
that a rigid hand-sprit gives more perfect control of the sail 
than a rope. The sail itself may be of duck, white with 
gay insignia cut from "turkey red" stitched on for easier 
identification from a distance, or in alternating stripes 
of contrasting colors; often it is made of heavy twilled 
unbleached sheeting, which can be had of almost any 
width likely to be needed. 

A very similar sail of larger size ; for example, twelve 
feet at the base, tapering to ten in a height of seven feet, 
may be used by either one skater alone or two, one in 
front of the other, — and, for that matter, possibly one 
or two "passengers" hanging on behind the rear sailor. 
For greater ease in handling such a sail, there may be 
a strip sewed on it at about a foot from each edge; this 
strip some three to four inches in width is strongly stitched 
down along each edge and the gar! or side spar is inserted 
between the two thicknesses; at the extreme edge a thin 
strip of split bamboo is inserted in a hem. 

Readers of The Century will by this time be recalling 
the very interesting article by Mr. T. F. Hanmer on the 
Danish skate-sail, which is still a different type, resembling 
"a square-rigger's lower sail and topsail, the two being 
in one piece"; the shoulder-yard is bound closely to the 
sail for its entire length ; and the topsail-yard can be 
reefed at will or completely wound up and fastened to the 
shoulder-yard. 

It is altogether a very rakish rig with its pennant-bearing 
topmast ; but, as he describes it, is fastened to the sailor 



SKATE-SAILING 107 

by stout straps or heavy cords running from the shoulder- 
yard over the skater's shoulders, crossing on his breast, 
again at the back of his waist, and finally being tied in 
front. Now any sail fastened to the person is dangerous ; 
and it is quite possible that the reason the sport made some- 
what slow headway was because of the fact that some 
forms of skate-sail introduced were, like the English type 
which is fastened to a man's leg (how does he " come 
about"?), uncomfortable as well as dangerous. 

One word more as to the only difficult point of sailing 
on skates — the one real essential which should be mastered 
before starting out — the matter of " coming about." 
W. F. Ollie, whose experience on Lake Erie ice makes 
his statements authoritative, declares that it may be 
"made easy" by this method : "The skater moving rapidly 
with the sail between him and the wind, grasps with his 
free hand the gaff above the boom ; and steering into 
the wind, lifts the sail over his head ; then, continuing 
to steer around, he brings it down on the other shoulder, 
and so places it in position for the other tack." 

-J. C. D. 



ICE HOCKEY 

THE HOME OF WINTER SPORT 

A Canadian, Mr. W. George Beers, in describing Canada 
as a winter resort, thus writes: "The Province of Quebec 
must bear the palm of transforming winter into a national 
season of healthy enjoyment, and Montreal is the metropolis 
of the Snow King. You can have delightful days and weeks 
in Toronto, where ice-boating is brought to perfection, and 
the splendid bay is alive with the skaters and the winter sail- 
ors ; or in curling or skating rink, or with a snowshoe club 
when they meet at Queen's Park for a tramp to Carle ton, 
you may get a good company, and, at any rate, thorough 
pleasure. Kingston has its grand bay, its glorious toboggan 
slides on Fort Henry, its magnificent scope for sham fights 
on the ice, its skating, curling, snowshoeing, and its splendid 
roads. Halifax has its pleasant society, its lively winter 
brimful of everything the season in Canada is famed for. 
Quebec, ever glorious, kissing the skies up at its old citadel, 
is just the same rare old city, with its delightful mixture of 
ancient and modern, French and English ; its vivacious po- 
nies and its happy-go-lucky cariole drivers ; its rinks and its 
rollicking ; its songs and its superstitions ; its toboggan hill 
at Montmorenci, succeeding that which Nature has erected 
every year since the Falls first rolled over the cliffs ; its hills 
and hollows and its historic surroundings; its agreeable 
109 



no WINTER SPORTS 

French-English society, the most charming brotherhood that 
ever shook hands over the past. 

" But the favorite winter sport is ice-hockey. The game is 
carried on under cover in large halls, the floor of which can be 
artificially flooded and frozen. In this way a smooth, level 
expanse of ice is secured, a thing that can be seldom got out 
of doors, owing to the great quantity of snow that lies on 
the ground. The game is played pretty much as hockey 
is on grass ; the ball or disk the players chase is called a 
'puck,' and they make it skim along the ice with hockey- 
sticks of the usual shape." 

The hockey matches between the rival cities are affairs 
of the greatest interest to the inhabitants. A large number 
of deeply interested sympathizers always accompany the 
team that goes to play away from home — in fact, the en- 
thusiasm and excitement reach quite as high a pitch as they 
do in England over a successful team of local football 
players. The great trophy of the Canadian ice-hockey is 
the Stanley Cup, which was first competed for in 1893, and 
has been competed for every year since, except in 1898. 
The winning teams have generally been furnished by Mon- 
treal or Winnipeg, though sometimes the winners have come 
from Toronto, Ottawa, and other cities. Two games are 
played, and all the goals obtained by the one club are added 
together and put against the total number of goals gained 
by the other club. The holders of the cup keep it until they 
are defeated, and they have to play whenever challenged. 
For several years the cup was held by the Montreal Wan- 
derers ; in 191 1 it was won by the Ottawa team. 



THE CANADIAN NATIONAL GAME 

In the good old days of our parents, and in even more 
remote times, the crude and exciting game of shinny was 
the fashion, and every lake and pond in the country was 
the scene of play. Our forebears cared little for rules, 
and so long as a player lived up to the all-important one, 
to "shinny on his own side, " no rule was broken. . . . 

In those days there were no shin-guards, padded pants, 
or other protections for the players, so the risk of injury 
was considerable. Beginning as a systematized game, 
and with the weather conditions of a country like Canada, 
it was natural that the attention of the athletes should 
be given to the task of creating a national winter sport. 
Even with such a foundation to work upon, it was not 
to be expected that this development could take place 
in a short time, and, roughly speaking, the actual change 
of shinny into hockey was very gradual. Since the advent 
of hockey itself many improvements and changes have 
from time to time been made to bring it up to its present 
state of perfection. The evolution from this haphazard 
game into the modern systematized play was gradual, 
and hockey in anything like its present form was not played 
in Canada or elsewhere previous to about 1880. 

The present game of ice hockey requires a field of ice 
with boundaries for the playing space not less than one 



ii2 WINTER SPORTS 

hundred and fifty feet long by fifty-eight feet wide ; at 
either end of the longer space two goal-posts are erected. 
They are four feet in height and six feet apart. Two 
teams of seven players each defend their respective goals, 
from which they attack the goal of their opponents. 

The implements consist of hockey sticks with long 
handles and flat, crooked blades, with which is "dribbled," 
lifted, or shot, a disk of vulcanized rubber, one inch thick 
and three inches in diameter, called the "puck." Points 
are scored, and the results of the game are determined 
by passing this puck between the opponents' goal-posts. 

The game is played in "halves" of twenty or thirty 
minutes, with an intermission for rest. The players have 
special titles and stations as in foot-ball, the seven positions 
being three forward (two "wing" or end players, and 
a centre), one rover (placed just behind the centre), one 
cover-point (behind the rover), one point (behind the 
cover-point and just in front of the goal-keeper), and 
the goal-keeper himself, who stands directly between the 
goal-posts. In the United States there is no rover, but 
that player is moved up into the line, making four forwards 
and three back field men. The rules are simple and easily 
understood. The puck may be pushed along continuously 
against the hockey stick, but not carried or thrown with 
the hand; the stick must be kept below the shoulder, 
and there are the usual provisions against foul or unfair 
tactics. There is also a penalty for offside play, as in 
football. In ice hockey, offside occurs when after a player 
touches the puck, any one on the same side, who at the 
moment of touching is nearer the opponent's goal line, 
touches the puck himself, or prevents an opponent from 



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jPM£t 


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THE CANADIAN NATIONAL GAME 113 

doing so, until the opposing side has in some way played 
it. 

The game, in Canada, is played both out and in doors ; 
in the United States, chiefly in manufactured ice rinks. 
If proper boundaries are erected, it may be played very 
en joy ably in the open, in cold weather. . . . 

The popularity of the game may be judged from the 
fact that Toronto alone contributes fifteen clubs, while 
the leading towns of the province are all represented, 
and in every village in Canada is an organization for hockey 
that plays for several months of the year. 

There is no doubt that Canada has found a real national 
winter sport, ranking second to no other in popularity, 
and for the very good reason that the game has the 
merit of demanding more of speed, skill, and endurance 
than any other sport of the season. . . . 

Each province in Canada has its distinct organization, 
but the championship of the various associations represents 
only the provincial honor ; and in order to overcome this 
difficulty Lord Stanley, now the Earl of Derby, in 1893 
presented a trophy, to be known as the " Stanley Cup, " 
for competition between the championships of the different 
provinces, the winning of which would carry with it the 
championship of all Canada. 

It is a challenge cup, and even if won more than once will 
not become the property of any team ; but the winners may 
have the names of the winning team and the year in which 
it was won engraved on a silver ring fitted on the cup for 
that purpose. During the first ten years of its history espe- 
cially the finest exhibitions of speed and science in the game 
of hockey were those games played by teams of champion- 



ii 4 WINTER SPORTS 

ship rank in quest of or defending the Stanley Cup. Better 
or more exciting hockey has never been seen than in the 
famous games between the Victorias of Winnipeg and the 
team from Montreal. 

Montreal has had the honor of holding the championship 
for the greater part of the time since 1893. • • • 

With the growth of hockey from its original form into a 
recognized sport, played under rules enforced by a gov- 
erning body, the difficulty of providing against rough and 
foul tactics soon appeared. The spectators formerly looked 
for a certain amount of heavy " body-checking " and rough- 
ness, which usually resulted in accidents and injuries more 
or less serious ; however, as the game developed science, it 
became apparent that roughness was not a necessary feature 
of play, and that a good player invariably detracted from 
his usefulness by such indulgence. So the rules were made 
more stringent, and body-checking and other such ques- 
tionable plays were restricted with a view to discouraging 
roughness. The speed and skill of the sport is marred by 
rough play, and the referee alone is to blame if this element 
becomes prominent in any contest, because the rules are 
clear and stringent. With the modern improvements in 
the way of guards and padded uniforms, a player runs much 
less risk of coming to grief than formerly, yet the great speed 
of the game makes it quite impossible to guard against all 
accidents. Body-checking probably is responsible for more 
injuries than any other element of the play, and should be 
watched most carefully by the referee, who has unusual dis- 
cretionary powers, and, if competent, can penalize offenders 
so promptly and severely as to eliminate such tactics. 
There is only one time when the use of the body-check is 



THE CANADIAN NATIONAL GAME 115 

permissible, and that is on the defence. A "point" or 
"cover-point" player frequently finds the body-check his 
only means of stopping a rush on goal and a probable score, 
but in this case the result is not usually serious, for the 
"defence" player is standing still, or moving very slowly, 
awaiting the approach of the opposing "forward," and thus 
the impact of the two men is not heavy. On the other 
hand, when both opponents are advancing at great speed 
from opposite directions for the "puck," the use of the body- 
check is dangerous, and at the same time quite unnecessary. 
A good rule for the referee to follow is to insist upon the 
players confining their efforts to obtaining possession of the 
puck, and make them play the puck and not the man. If 
this rule is enforced, many injuries will be prevented. There 
is seldom occasion for an advantageous use of the body- 
check by the forwards, as their play is not stopping rushes, 
but making rushes, and it is a notable fact that the best 
players in the country are seldom hurt, and never indulge 
in rough tactics of any kind Probably the most annoying 
and meanest kind of play is when a man in pursuit of another 
who has the puck ostensibly endeavors to reach the stick 
of his opponent, but in reality only succeeds in reaching his 
feet and legs, and chops away at these until they are bruised 
from the heel to the hip. Another frequent cause of rough- 
ness is "interference" play, which is much practised; but 
being decidedly "offside" play, is foul, and should be called 
down by the referee in every instance. 

The manner of play itself has undergone many changes 
and improvements, all of which have tended to make the 
game faster and more scientific. One noticeable develop- 
ment is that of combination work, displacing the old-style 



n6 WINTER SPORTS 

individual game. Now the plays are all concerted, and the 
rush of the forwards down the ice at lightning speed, passing 
the puck from one to another, converging until the oppo- 
nents' goal is almost reached, and an attempt to score made, 
is as exciting and brilliant as any play in any game, outdoors 
or indoors. If in this movement the puck is lost to an op- 
ponent, the marvellous rapidity with which the tables are 
immediately turned, and an onslaught made on the opposite 
goal, reveals the science and skill of this, the fastest and most 
exciting of games. The game is so extremely fast, indeed, 
that an instant's delay is easily fatal to success. The for- 
wards, particularly, must think quickly and act instantly. 

— Charles Patterson. 

By permission from Outing Magazine. 



"PLAYING THE PUCK" 

There is something marvellous in the dexterity which 
some players acquire in playing the puck. With a quick 
turn of the wrist they will cause the flat disk to leave the ice 
and fly through the air six feet high like a missile straight 
for the goal posts of the enemy. Another task is to make 
the puck carom off the side of the rink when one is pressed 
by an opposition player coming from the right or left front, 
then by dodging round the coming skater resume possession 
of the rubber before the other can turn round. By a rapid 
right and left dodging motion of the stick, with the puck at 
its end, a skilful player may carry the disk ahead of him past 
a number of the opposition players and secure a shot on goal. 

Crowds of spectators attend the city matches. Along the 
sides of the rink stand ranks of the most enthusiastic friends 
of the players to applaud and to encourage. In the ends 
of the buildings on raised galleries sit scores of fair ladies 
wrapped in their warm furs, who show by their attendance 
that they admire muscular manhood. The electric and 
gas lights are turned on. The referee advances to the centre 
of the ice and the umpires take post at their respective goals. 
The members of the two teams, one in a black and the other 
in white uniform, file on to the field. Preliminaries are 
arranged ; the players take their places. One player of 
each side faces off in the centre of the field, by having the 



n8 WINTER SPORTS 

puck placed between the flat of their respective sticks. A 
pause of breathless interest, and then the referee calls out : 
"Are you ready ? Draw !" and they are at it like a flash. 
Hither and thither the rubber goes. It glides, caroms, flies, 
rebounds, so swiftly that its whereabouts is known half the 
time only by the movements of the players, who dash after 
it by intuition. It is suddenly lifted clear from the ice and 
curves swiftly toward one of the goals. If it is not checked 
by curved sticks raised to stop it, it may reach the goal-keeper 
whose knees stop it and a slash of his stick carries it off to 
one side. Then the point takes it in the opposite direction. 
In his flight he may dodge, or carom the puck, or pass it 
back to one of his own players if his progress is checked, but 
he is now virtually out of the play for the time being, because 
he is ahead of the puck, and cannot touch it until it has been 
sent on ahead of him again, and even then he cannot touch 
it until it has been touched by an opponent. If he is first 
to reach it, he may only lay his stick behind the puck to 
check it instantly after the other has delivered his play. 

Now one of the forwards has the puck well down upon the 
enemy's goal, and his dashing attack is supported by every 
man who can be spared, as they close in to rush it through. 
But there is many a slip in hockey. A foul occurs in front 
of the goal and there is a face off. A face off there is 
dangerous, and the defenders mass solidly to protect their 
goal. One of the attacking players faces off, the rest open 
up like a fan behind him to shoot on goal if the puck can 
back out of the defence. A scrimmage in front of or close 
to the goal is the acme of excitement. Each player strains 
every nerve in the attack or defence, the goal-keeper bends 
low, his muscles tense, his eyes following the rubber like 



"PLAYING THE PUCK" 119 

those of a hawk. At last by a skilful sweep of the stick the 
goal is relieved and the play shifts to the centre of the field, 
and then begins some beautiful individual and team play, 
as there is now scope for swift skating and artful dodging. 
It seems strange that men are not maimed or injured as they 
skim around at such breakneck speed. 

Without a moment's warning, for the unexpected always 
occurs, the rubber goes down upon one of the goals and is 
swiped between the goal-posts, past the vigilant warder of 
the gates. Up goes the arm of the umpire and the roof of 
the rink rings with the cheers of the friends of the victorious 
side, who wave their sticks in the air in sympathy with the 
applause. There is a rest of a few minutes, ends are ex- 
changed and play resumed. And so it goes until the last 
goal is scored. In the Northwest it is the leading winter 
sport ; and that too in the very country where the curler's 
paradise is supposed to lie. _ T r A 



THE RULES OF THE GAME OF ICE HOCKEY 

The rules of the game of ice hockey vary slightly as they 
have been adopted by one league or another in the United 
States or Canada, and it is, of course, advisable for any 
organizing team to consult the official rule book of that 
league of which it expects to become a member, but there 
is no difference of opinion on any essential point, and these 
are as follows: — 

The Object. — The game is played on a hockey rink by two 
teams of not over seven players each, whose object is the 
scoring of the largest possible number of goals by driving 
with a hockey stick a rubber puck between the goal-posts 
on the opposing side. The team scoring the greater number 
of goals during the periods of play is declared the winner. 

The Rink. — In the United States the rules permit the 
minimum length of a hockey rink to be one hundred and 
twelve feet by fifty-eight feet ; Canadian rules require that 
the rink be "at least one hundred and seventy-five feet 
long by sixty -five feet in width." The boundaries are 
guarded by boards from a foot to four feet in height. 

The Goals. — A goal uniformly consists of a goal-net 
supported by two upright posts four feet in height, fixed 
firmly in the ice, six feet apart ; a goal is placed midway on 
the goal-line at each end of the rink. Rules differ as to the 
distance which this imaginary goal-line must be from the 



RULES OF THE GAME OF ICE HOCKEY 121 

edge of the ice, but the usual practice is to have it "at least 
ten feet from the end of the ice." A goal is scored when the 
puck has entirely crossed from the front, below the level of 
the top of the goal-posts, a line drawn between them. 

Sticks. — A hockey stick must be made entirely of wood ; 
tape binding is permissible ; a stick must not be more than 
three inches wide in any part or more than thirteen inches 
long at the blade. 

The Puck. — A puck is a disk of vulcanized rubber, three 
inches in diameter, with a uniform thickness of one inch. 
In play it may be stopped by the stick, skate, or any part 
of the body, but not carried or held or knocked on by any 
part of the body or skate. 

Positions of Players. — At the opening of a match the 
captains of the two contending teams toss for the choice of 
sides. This settled, the players on each side take at the 
opening of the match the positions of goal-keeper, point, 
cover-point, and forwards. 

The goal-keeper maintains a standing position directly 
in front of the goal which he is defending ; he may not, dur- 
ing the play, lie, kneel, or sit upon the ice ; he may stop the 
puck with his hands, but may not hold or throw it. 

The point position is directly in front of the goal-keeper's 
position, the cover-point, again, is directly in front of the 
point. The forward line is an imaginary line crossing the 
rink from side to side midway between the goals. The wing 
forward positions are at either end of this line and the centre 
forward at its middle. If seven men are playing on each 
side, the rover forward takes position between cover-point 
and the centre. 

Face. — A place is the placing of the puck thrown on the 



122 WINTER SPORTS 

ice between the sticks of two players, one from each side. 
From this position the game begins when the referee, as 
he throws the puck, blows a whistle or calls- "Play." The 
centre forwards from each side face off from the centre of 
the rink at the opening of the game and after each goal is 
scored. The referee also orders a face after any irregularity 
in play, and whenever play is resumed after stoppage for 
any reason. 

Of side Play. — A player may hit the puck only when he 
is within a rectangle formed by his own end of the ice, the 
sides of the rink, and an imaginary line running through the 
centre of the puck at right angles to the side-lines. It is 
offside play when, after a player has touched the puck, any 
team mate who is at the time nearer the enemy's goal-line, 
shall hit the puck himself or prevent an opponent from 
hitting it, before some one on the opposing side shall have 
played it. Loafing off-side, that is, remaining beyond the 
rectangle in which he may play, for more than a reason- 
able time is not permitted. But a player defending goal 
may play the puck as it bounds off his goal-keeper within a 
space of three feet out from the goal and extending to the 
sides of the rink. 

An offside play calls for a face at the point where the puck 
was last played before the offside stroke. 

Fouls. — The stick may not be raised above the shoulder, 
except in lifting the puck. Charging from behind, tripping, 
holding, pushing, slashing with a stick, or cross-checking of 
an opponent is not permitted. No player may interfere 
with an opponent who is not playing the puck. An offside 
player may not touch the puck or interfere with any oppo- 
nent. A deliberate offender may be ruled off the ice for 



RULES OF THE GAME OF ICE HOCKEY 123 

any time in the discretion of the referee for loafing, offside, 
unfair, or rough play, foul or abusive language, and in such 
case no substitute shall be allowed. 

Puck of the Ice. — When the puck goes off the ice behind 
the goal-line, or a foul occurs behind the goal, the puck shall 
be taken by the referee to a point five yards in front of the 
goal, on a line at a right angle to the goal-line from the point 
where the foul occurred or the puck left the ice. When the 
puck goes off the ice at the side, it shall be similarly faced 
five yards from the boundary line on a line at right angles 
thereto from the point crossed by the puck. 

Change of Players. — No change of players should be 
made during a match; but if any player is compelled to 
retire by the breaking of a skate or other accident, the oppo- 
site side must drop a player to equalize the game and the 
match proceed. In the United States it is customary to 
allow substitutes. 

Playing Time. — In Canada the playing time of a match 
game is one hour, exclusive of stoppages, in two halves, with 
a ten-minute interval. In the United States it is usually 
forty minutes play with a ten-minute interval after twenty 
minutes. Time is taken out for all stoppages by the referee. 
A tie may be played off in an extra period following a five- 
minute interval after the second half, or in a series of ten- 
minute periods, with a change of end after each five min- 
utes, and intervals of five minutes between one period and 
the next. All of these particulars may be modified by pre- 
liminary agreement between competing teams. 

The Referee. — A referee should have entire control of 
the game. The team captains may agree with his approval 
upon two timekeepers, who keep the score and an account 



i2 4 WINTER SPORTS 

of the time spent in actual play, and notify the referee of 
the expiration of the play periods and intervals ; the cap- 
tains may also agree upon an umpire for each goal who re- 
ports to the referee whenever a goal is scored. If the cap- 
tains do not agree in a choice of these officials, they are 
appointed by the referee, who may also appoint, if he desires, 
a third timekeeper to see to it that penalties of suspension 
for a limited time during the game are fairly obeyed and an 
assistant whose duty shall be to report the occurrence of a 
foul or other irregularity in play. 

Compiled by comparison of the official rules of the 
stronger leagues in United States and Canada. 



CURLING 

THE GAME OF CURLING 

Hard frost of two or three days' duration provides ice of 
sufficient thickness for curling, and which is to be found on 
some neighboring loch or pond, either natural or formed for 
the purpose. The curlers repair, at the appointed time, to 
the place of rendezvous, each provided with trampets to 
steady the person in the act of playing, with a besom 
to sweep the ice, and with two curling-stones. The stones are 
of granite, spherical in form, finely polished on the under 
side, and furnished with a handle for throwing on the upper. 
The weight of each stone is from about thirty-three pounds 
to forty or more, according to the taste or strength of the 
player. In order to play the game, the first process is to 
clear and prepare a suitable space of ice. A portion forty- 
two yards in length, by some ten yards broad, is marked 
off; at each end, thirty-eight yards apart, are cut marks 
called tees or witters. This portion of ice is the rink ; 1 and 
with circles described round each tee as a centre to guide the 
eye in estimating the position of the stones when played, 
with one line drawn across the middle and one seven yards 
before each tee, it is complete and ready for playing. The 
line in the middle of the rink marks the place where sweeping 
may commence ; the lines before each tee are the hog scores, 

1 For a diagram of the rink see page 158. 
125 



i26 WINTER SPORTS 

which must be passed by the running stone — if not, it is 
removed from the rink as a hog, and held as useless for the 
round. Four players form a side, headed by a skip, or 
director, who is, in fact, the commander-in-chief of his 
corps. The principle of the game is simple. The stones 
of either party played from one tee to the other, and found 
at the conclusion of the round to be nearest the tee, count 
as shots. A game is generally reckoned as twenty-one 
shots ; the side which first makes good that number claims 
the victory. But to give an idea of actual operations. The 
player on one side is followed alternately by the player on 
the other, until all the eight players have cast their stones. 
It is the aim of the leader on either side, standing at the one 
tee, or a yard or two behind it, to place his stone in a van- 
tage position near to or some short distance in front of the 
opposite tee. Should the first stone of the first player be 
favorably placed, and it remains untouched by the play of 
his opponent, it will be his endeavor to put down a guard 
some distance before it, so as to prevent its removal. If 
he does so, the opponent will probably be directed by his 
skip to remove the guard, that the winner or nearest stone 
to the tee may be struck away by the next player of that 
side. This may be done, and so fairly that the striking 
stone rests in the place of the one struck away. It will then 
be the aim of the other side in turn to guard this stone, which 
has become the winner ; and so the struggle may continue 
till all have cast their stones. As the stones are played and 
lie in all manner of positions around the tee, the game gets 
much more complicated than we have indicated, and re- 
quires much more knowledge and the nicest calculation in 
giving directions, and the utmost care and precision of aim 



THE GAME OF CURLING 127 

on the part of the player. The stones may be so mixed 
that an attempt to remove the winner of the one side, if 
unsuccessful, may result in yet greater damage to the other. 
When a stone lies close to the tee, and is so thoroughly 
guarded as to be impregnable to a direct stroke, it may 
yet be removed by a dexterous inwick. The inwick is 
effected by designing a stone some distance in front of the 
tee, and out of the direct line, and forming with the tee an 
angle of forty-five degrees, more or less. A stone played 
with skill upon a stone so placed may diverge direct upon 
the winner resting on the tee, so as at once to remove it 
and rest in its place. This is one of the finest points in the 
game of curling. A good curler, when his hand is in, may 
be depended upon to take the shot by an inwick. The 
excitement both of players and spectators becomes intense 
when a closely contested game draws near a close, when 
perhaps both sides have attained twenty, and are fighting 
at the last round for the decisive shot. It comes at length 
that the issue depends upon the play of the respective skips. 
The thing required to be done by one or the other, as it 
may happen, amounts sometimes to all but an impossibility. 
The winner is well guarded, still an inch or two of it is seen. 
If it remains to the end, the victory of course falls to the 
one side; if removed, it belongs to the rival party. The 
last player takes up his position, the last stone remains to be 
thrown, and that throw is charged alike with defeat and 
triumph ; but to which party who yet can tell ? The ice 
is cleared from the crowding spectators to admit daylight 
through the rink. The veteran curler has adjusted himself 
on his trampets, steadily, deliberately he takes aim at the 
visible portion of the winner, dimly descried through the 



128 WINTER SPORTS 

opposing barrier of blockading stones in the distant perspec- 
tive. The suspense begets a solemn silence. Delivered by 
the master hand of a hero of many fights, the stone speeds 
towards the mark ; it brushes the guards on the one side and 
the other, creating a smoke of granite particles, but rushing 
on, in an instant more, it spins the winner out. Fast follow 
the roar of applause from the excited spectators, and the 
shout of triumph from the victors. 

When the writer first took part in the parish bonspeils of 
Scotland, some thirty years ago, eight men formed a rink 
of players, each playing one stone. The new system, intro- 
duced by the Royal Club, of four players with two stones 
each, has now become universal wherever curling is prac- 
tised. In the first place it conduces to good play. A player 
might fail from some slight miscalculation with his first 
stone to do as directed, but with the remaining chance which 
his second affords, he is pretty sure to make good his failure. 
If, for instance, he has expended too much force and the 
stone runs past the tee, and is for the turn lost, that experi- 
ence enables him to make a more accurate estimate, and to 
rectify the error at the next throw. And whether the play 
is to draw a shot, to remove the winner of the opposite side, 
or to guard that of his own, it is to the player personally a 
great satisfaction, and mitigates the poignant chagrin 
which the failure of his first throw creates in his own mind, 
that he has a stone still in reserve, which, should his oppo- 
nent's play leave him the opportunity, he makes certain 
shall successfully realize his aim. Again, a force of eight 
men on each side engages sixteen in the business of the game, 
and leads to crowding and confusion on the rink. Half the 
number, as now settled, is sufficient for the work required. 



THE GAME OF CURLING 129 

When the director and player are engaged at their several 
ports, two are left free to attend to the essential department 
of sweeping. The sweeping is entirely under the control 
of the skip, who intently watches the progress of the running 
stone. If he judges it lacks force and requires all possible 
aid to bring it up, he gives the order to sweep, and the besoms 
are instantly at work on the ice to give it a smooth and 
clean pathway, and as instantly does their action close at 
the word of command to that effect. According to the rule 
of the Royal Club the sweeping is from the middle line of 
the rink. The late Lord Eglinton advocated sweeping 
from tee to tee ; the point was fully discussed, and by a reso- 
lution of the club it was settled that the besoms should be 
used from a point midway between the tees. To be a good 
sweeper is next to being a good player. By the proper 
management of the brooms a stone may be made to run to the 
tee hole which would otherwise rest far behind. Thorough 
subordination and obedience on the part of the players to 
the skip in all matters of the game are implicitly rendered. 
Any one may tender his advice as to what is best to be 
played, but the skip is sole judge, and his decision is final 
on the doubtful point. No captain on board a ship, or 
commander on the field of battle, is more absolute than he. 
In all great matches an umpire is appointed, who has power 
to stop the play when the ice is, in his opinion, unfit for 
proceeding with the contest, in which case the match must 
be commenced de novo at some future and fitting oppor- 
tunity. The umpire also decides in case of non-agreement 
on the part of the skips as to which of two stones is to be 
counted as a shot. The measurements are taken from the 
centre of the tee-hole to that part of the stone nearest to it. 



i 3 o WINTER SPORTS 

Sometimes the rival stones lie so equally near as that no 
shot for that round can be claimed by either party. All 
stones lying beyond a circle of a radius of seven feet are 
not counted in the reckoning of shots. 

The main points in the game of curling resolve themselves 
into the following : Drawing to the tee, guarding, remov- 
ing the guard, direct striking of the winner so as to remove it, 
striking out the winner by inwick, and striking by outwick 
so as to drive the stone struck inward to the tee. Of these, 
drawing is perhaps the most difficult, and requires the nicest 
calculation of force. When it is hopeless to try to remove 
the winner because of the full guarding, it is sometimes pos- 
sible to take the shot by drawing. This course is often 
directed by a cautious and experienced skip who has confi- 
dence in his man. It requires nice play, and all necessary 
aid from the alert sweepers. 

Various epithets are applied to curling, all more or less 
expressive of its main characteristics. It is styled an 
anxious game. The whole soul of the player is absorbed 
in the play. Nor does he deserve to be called a curler at 
all who is not a keen curler. The rapid alternations of 
feeling — elation at a good hit, disappointment, vexation 
at a damaging miss; the satisfaction of the one party at 
the favorable position of its stones, suddenly changed to 
mortification by an entire alteration from a successful and 
damaging throw of the opposite side ; the joy, on the one 
hand, of securing shots — one, two, three, or four — as 
the result of the round, and the pain on the other of losing 
ground, all contribute to the intense anxiety attendant on 
curling. To this characteristic the Scottish poet, Grahame, 
the author of the Sabbath, alludes in the following lines: 



THE GAME OF CURLING 131 

" How rival parishes and shrievdoms keep, 
On upland lochs, the long-expected tryst 
To play their yearly bonspeil. Aged men, 
Smit with the eagerness of youth, are there : 
While love of conquest lights their beamless eye, 
New nerves their arms, and makes them young once more." 

It is a slippery game, not only that it is played upon a 
slippery board, but because in its progress and result it is 
uncertain. From some combination of adverse circum- 
stances, in no way accountable, a rink of choicest curlers 
is sometimes signally defeated. The play in itself may be 
good, and yet the players unlucky. Success or non-success 
in a game may actually hinge on the particular point on 
which a stone is struck ; a single inch one way or the other 
would have made all the difference in the final result. The 
state of the ice and of the weather affects the sport consider- 
ably. Bias, snow, thaw, water, wind, are so many disturb- 
ing causes. A strong, smooth, unbiassed piece of ice, and a 
calm, clear, bracing day, is what the curler most desiderates. 
The writer has pleasant memories of curling on such exhil- 
arating days, on the Scottish lochs when the winter sun 
brightened the scene, gave a pleasant warmth, and cast its 
beam athwart the surrounding, silent, and snow-covered 
hills. Any one approaching a woodland loch, covered with 
absorbed and busy curlers, would appreciate the term 
" roaring" applied by Burns to the sport in the opening 
lines of the Vision : — 

" The sun had closed the winter day, 
The curlers quat their roaring play." 

There is at once the ringing, bumping noise of numerous 
running stones on the ice ; the excited ejaculations of the 



i 3 2 WINTER SPORTS 

men engaged ; the loud voices of the skips giving directions 
to the players, or thundering the word of command to sweep, 
or to leave off sweeping ; the eager cry of expectation as the 
stone speeds to its mark, and the shout of "Well done" 
borne along the rink from tee to tee to the gratified ears of 
the curler who has played a successful stone. Conviviality 
is also said, and with some truth, to be an accompaniment 
of curling : but any allusion to the merry meeting of the 
players, and to the curling songs sung on these occasions, 
does not come within the scope of his brief sketch. One of 
the most delightful features of the pastime is the commin- 
gling which it occasions of all ranks and classes on an equal 
footing. " One touch of nature makes the whole world 
kin." Social distinctions completely vanish before the all- 
engrossing anxiety and eagerness of a keen contest on the 
ice. Men are knit together by an all-pervading sympathy 
and a common interest. A clergyman, who on Sunday 
from the vantage ground of the pulpit instructs his hearers 
in the duties of religion, enters with them on the following 
day into the excitement of a curling contest, and has his 
merits on the icy board put to the test, and decided alto- 
gether apart from his status as a preacher. ... Of the 
beneficial effects of curling, apart from the qualities as an 
amusement, morally and socially, there is no room for doubt. 
Its tendency is to draw class to class, and to promote good- 
will and good feeling through all ranks of the community. 

— Christopher North. 

An article in St. Paul's Magazine, entitled " A Description of the 
Game of Curling for the Instruction of Englishmen and Novices." j 



THE GENERAL RULES OF THE GAME OF 
CURLING 

i. The length of the rink for play, viz. from the back end 
of the crampit to the tee, shall be 42 yards, and in no case 
less than 3 2 yards. Alterations are provided for in Section 1 7 . 

The tees to be set down 38 yards apart. Around each 
tee as a centre, a circle of 7 feet radius shall be drawn. (In 
order to facilitate measurements, 2 -foot and 4-foot circles 
may be laid down.) In exact alignment with both tees, a 
line, called the " central line," shall be drawn, extending to 
a point 4 yards behind each tee. At this point a line 18 
inches in length, at right angles to the central line, shall be 
drawn, on which, and 6 inches from the central line, the heel 
of crampit shall be placed. The hack in this position shall 
be 3 inches from the central line, and shall not be more 
than 12 inches in length. 

Lines shall be drawn across the rink at right angles to 
central line, as indicated in diagram, and called "hog 
scores," "sweeping scores," "back scores," and "middle 
score." 

The hog score shall be placed at one-sixth part of the entire 
length for play. 

The sweeping score shall be placed across the tees, for 
the use of the skips, and the middle score midway between 
them, for the use of the players (for regulation of sweeping 
see Sections 9 and 12). 

133 



134 WINTER SPORTS 

The back score shall be placed just outside and behind the 
7-foot circle. 

N.B. — Every stone shall be eligible to count which is not 
clearly outside of the 7-foot circle. Every stone shall be a 
hog which does not clear the score, and must be removed 
from the ice ; but no stone to be considered as such which has 
struck another stone lying in position. Stones passing the 
back line, and lying clear of it, must be removed from the 
ice, as also any stone which in its progress shall touch 
the swept snow on either side of the rink. 

Note. — Reference in forming rinks is made to the diagram or 
plan, called " The Rink." See page 158. 

2. All matches to be of a certain number of heads, to 
be agreed on by the clubs, or fixed by the umpire, before 
commencement ; or otherwise, by time, or shots, if mutually 
agreed on. In the event of parties being equal at the con- 
clusion of the match, play shall be continued by all the rinks 
engaged for another head ; or, if necessary to decide the 
match, for such additional heads as the umpire shall direct. 

3. Every rink to be composed of four players a side, each 
using two stones. The rotation of play observed during the 
first head of match shall not be changed. 

4. The skips opposing each other shall settle by lot, or in 
any other way they may agree upon, which party shall lead 
at the first head, after which the winning party shall do so. 

5. All curling-stones shall be of a circular shape. No 
stone, including handle, shall be of a greater weight than 50 
pounds imperial, or of greater circumference than 36 inches, 
or of less height than one-eighth part of its greatest circum- 
ference. 



GENERAL RULES OF THE GAME OF CURLING 135 

6. No stone shall be changed after a match has been be- 
gun, but the side of a stone may be changed at any time 
during a match. 

7. Should a stone happen to be broken, the largest frag- 
ment shall be considered in the game for that end — the 
player being entitled to use another stone, or another pair, 
during the remainder of the game. 

8. If a played stone rolls over, or stops, on its side or 
top, it shall be put off the ice. Should the handle quit the 
stone in delivery, the player must keep hold of it, or other- 
wise he shall not be entitled to replay the shot. 

9. Players, during the course of each end, to be arranged 
along the sides, but well off the rink, as the skips may direct ; 
and no party, except when sweeping according to rule, shall 
go upon the middle of the rink, or cross it, under any pre- 
tence whatever. Skips alone to stand within the 7 foot 
circle — the skip of the playing party to have the choice 
of place, and not to be obstructed by the other, in front of 
the tee, while behind it the privileges of both in regard 
to sweeping shall be equal. 

10. Every player to be ready to play when his turn comes, 
and not to take more than a reasonable time to play. 
Should he play a wrong stone, any of the players may stop 
it while running ; but if not stopped until at rest, the stone 
which ought to have been played shall be placed in its stead, 
to the satisfaction of the opposing skip. 

n. If a player should play out of turn, the stone so played 
may be stopped in its progress, and returned to the player. 
Should the mistake not be discovered till the stone be at 
rest, or has struck another stone, the opposite skip shall 
have the option of adding one to his score, allowing the game 



136 WINTER SPORTS 

to proceed, or of declaring the end null and void. But if 
a stone be played before the mistake has been discovered, 
the head must be finished as if it had been properly played 
from the beginning. 

12. The sweeping shall be under the direction and control 
of the skips. The player's party may sweep the ice from 
the middle line to the tee, and any of their own stones when 
set in motion, — the adverse party having liberty only to 
sweep in front of any of their own stones which have been set 
in motion by a stone played by the opposite party. Both 
skips have equal right to clean and sweep the ice behind the 
tee at any time, even when a player is being directed by his 
skip. At the end of any head, either of the skips may call 
upon the whole players to clean and sweep the entire rink, 
but being subject to this, if objected to, to the control of the 
acting umpire. The sweeping shall always be to a side ; 
and no sweeping shall be either moved forward or left in 
front of a running stone. When snow is falling, the player's 
party may sweep the stones of their own side from tee to tee. 

13. If, in sweeping or otherwise, a running stone be 
marred by any of the party to which it belongs, it may, 
in the option of the opposite skip, be put off the ice ; but 
if by any of the adverse party, it may be placed where the 
skip of the party to which it belongs shall direct. If marred 
by any other means, the player shall replay the stone. 
Should any played stone be displaced before the head is 
reckoned, it shall be placed as near as possible where it lay, 
to the satisfaction of, or by, the skip opposed to the party 
displacing. If displaced by any neutral party, both skips 
to agree upon the position to which it is to be returned; 
but should they not agree, the umpire is to decide. 



GENERAL RULES OF THE GAME OF CURLING 137 

14. No measuring of shots allowable previous to the ter- 
mination of the end. Disputed shots to be determined by the 
skips ; or, if they disagree, by the umpire ; or, when there 
is no umpire, by some neutral person chosen by the skips. 
All measurements to be taken from the centre of the tee to 
that part of the stone which is nearest it. 

15. Skips shall have the exclusive regulation and direction 
of the game for their respective parties, and may play last 
stone, or in any part of the game they please, but are not 
entitled to change their position when once fixed. When 
their turn to play comes, they may name one of their party 
to act as skip for them, and must take the position of an 
ordinary player, and shall not have any choice or direction 
in the game till they return to the tee head as skips. 

16. If any player engaged, or belonging to either of the 
competing clubs, shall speak to, taunt, or interrupt another, 
not being of his own party, while in the act of delivering his 
stone, one shot may be added to the score of the party so 
interrupted for each interruption, and the play proceed. 

17. If from any change of weather after a match has been 
begun or from any other reasonable cause, one party shall 
desire to shorten the rink, or to change to another ; and if 
the two skips cannot agree, the umpire shall, after seeing 
one end played, determine whether the rink shall be short- 
ened, and how much, or whether it shall be changed, and his 
decision should be final. Should there be no acting umpire, 
or should he be otherwise engaged, the two skips may call 
in any neutral curler to decide, whose powers shall be equally 
extensive with those of the umpire. The umpire, more- 
over, shall, in the event of the ice being in his opinion dan- 
gerous, stop the match. He shall postpone it, even if begun, 



138 WINTER SPORTS 

when, in his opinion, the state of the ice is not fitted 
for testing the curling skill of the players ; and except in 
very special circumstances, of which the umpire shall 
be judge, a match shall not proceed, or be continued, 
when a thaw has fairly set in or when snow is falling, 
and likely to continue during the match. Nor shall 
it be continued when such darkness comes on as pre- 
vents (in the opinion of the umpire) the played stones being 
well seen by players at the other end of the rink. In every 
case the match, when renewed, must be begun de novo. 

— Rev. John Kerr. 



THE CURLER WORD 

If you'd be a curler keen, 
Stand straight, look even, 
Sole well, shoot straight, and sweep clean. 

The old curler's "word" is redolent with wisdom, and 
I shall take it for the text of my observations, merely using 
the liberty to alter the order of its emphatic clauses. 

"Soop clean" is a primary maxim of this noble art. 
Nothing should be left to accident or brute force; and a 
particle of snow or a chip of broom may defeat the efforts 
of the most cautious and cunning hand. It grieves me to 
the heart to see a parcel of rough clowns or lubberly citi- 
zens set to work upon an ill-swept rink, and hammer away 
till the stones polish the ice and excavate a narrow track, 
on which they may calculate surely, as upon a railway, 
from tee to tee. I would condemn such fellows, every cold 
frosty morning, to lather their beards with snow, and shave 
them with a hand-saw, till they are inspired with a suitable 
disrelish for rough work. The first manifestation of skill 
and worthiness is to polish perfectly a broad and long rink, 
till every honest curler can see his joyous face reflected 
from its glassy surface — a face which then only he need 
not blush to behold. 

"Foot sure" is a maxim of fundamental importance. If 
a man does not stand firmly, he can never play surely. But 
139 



140 WINTER SPORTS 

it is enough that the right foot be firmly planted upon the 
ice ; the left foot, protected by the carpet shoe, should be 
kept free, that the player may throw his weight, when 
necessary, into his shot, and step forward when delivering 
his stone. In all the high districts most celebrated for 
prowess in the art, the latter practice prevails; and it is 
only in the lower and less favored parts of the country, 
where the inhabitants are timorous and enervated by luxury, 
that you find curlers fixed like automatons upon a broad 
sheet of iron with a cross-bar of wood at one end to keep 
them from slipping back, and a similar beam at the other 
end to keep them from slipping forward. Such players 
always appear to me to have come out to practise for stand- 
ing in the stocks, to which I would send them at once, as 
the due reward of their folly. The thin iron plate, with one 
fillet of wood behind to retain the right foot, is a legitimate 
substitute for the genuine old "hag in the ice," and perhaps 
necessary in latitudes where the ice is seldom thick enough 
to admit of its being hacked. But the cross-beam for the 
fore foot is a stumbling-block and a snare, and will be dis- 
carded from every community pretending to light and 
civilization. 

"Look at the mark with all your een." — When a player 
is observed to look at his feet, and then at the ice, and then 
at his stone, he ought to be ordered off at once, to undergo 
extra drill with the awkward squad. 

"Shoot straight." — I place this maxim last, because it 
needs some elucidation ; and as I feel that I am now about 
to tread on slippery ground, I desire to win my way with 
much caution to the tee. To shoot straight implies that 
the stone be launched from the hand "without any rotatory 



THE CURLER WORD 141 

motion," and that it be directly aimed at its mark. No 
man can be a good curler who has not learned to maintain 
these two conditions of straightness. The primary ob- 
ject always is to shoot straight at the mark ; and when this 
is possible, no other track should be singled out. But 
whenever a stone, in leaving the hand, is made to revolve 
on its own axis, on keen ice, it will not move in a straight 
line to the mark, but will proceed in a curve, deflecting to 
the right hand or the left, according to the twist which has 
been communicated to it when set down. If the elbow is 
turned out in playing, the outside or natural twist takes 
place ; and if the elbow is turned in, the inside twist is the 
result. There are few players who can avoid twisting their 
stone ; and this almost universal fault is the great cause of 
the ill success which attends their play. It is a fault, more- 
over, of the effects of which inexperienced curlers are gen- 
erally unconscious ; and I have seen large parties of curlers 
twirling their stones to the left hand, and complaining, 
with one voice, of the heavy bias on the ice, when the ice 
was perfectly level, and the disappointment of the players 
was to be ascribed solely to the rotary motion of their 
stones. To guard against the habit of twisting is the first 
lesson to be learned by the young aspirant ; and he who has 
learned to play a straight stone has already overcome one 
of the greatest difficulties of the art; for in ordinary cir- 
cumstances, this is the style of play which will tell most of 

the success of the game. ^ ^ 

— Timothy Twist. 



THE SKIP 

The direction of the game in curling lies, as we have 
stated, with the skip. The rink consists of four, and 
while three are under authority, one — the skip — is abso- 
lutely dictator. The skip is the general ; they are the sol- 
diers under him, and are bound implicitly to obey his com- 
mands. " Theirs not to reason why." Obedience is the 
first and last necessity in a rink of curlers. Where each 
thinks he knows more about the game than his neighbors, 
or even his skip, there is confusion and strife, and every 
likelihood of losing the match. Nowhere more truly than 
in a curling match does the maxim hold — " Unity is 
strength/' The player has not, as in the point game, to 
try how much he can outdistance others in his score. The 
battle rages round the tee. Four against four contend for 
its possession, who first to take it, who last to hold it. Each 
has his place to fill. The first player, with a pair of heavy 
stones, must draw up toward the coveted spot. The second 
must protect the lead if the enemy has not dislodged him. 
The third most likely will have a brittle, i.e. an angular 
wick or cannon-shot shot to play. By that tee, watching 
and directing, stands the skip. He knows what is wanted. 
He knows what part each has to perform. He gives his 
orders accordingly, and expects them to be obeyed. The 
office is one of honor and of responsibility. The skip, 
142 



THE SKIP 143 

albeit a dictator, is appointed to his office by the will of his 
brother curlers. The essential qualification in their eyes is 
that he have a thorough knowledge of the game. Besides 
this knowledge of the game, there are many other qualities 
which a man must possess if he would worthily fill the office 
of skip. He must be a man of humor, delighting in " quips, 
cranks, and jollities." With a couple of sour skips at the 
end of a rink all the life goes out of the game. On the ice 
and at the social board it is required that a skip should be 
able to keep the fun going, to make a good joke, to tell a 
good story, to sing a good song, and although there has been 
no legislation on the subject of his attitude toward alcohol, 
it is more usual for him to be a disciple of Dr. Mortimer 
Granville than a follower of Sir Wilfrid Lawson. He must 
be a man of imperturbable temper, never put out when a 
mishap occurs, never angry at his men, never blaming any- 
body but himself, in the hour of defeat unmurmuring, and 
in the hour of triumph generous. He must be just, honest, 
wise, cool, prudent, watchful, brave, courageous, blameless 
as a bishop, and, like a bishop, the husband of one wife. 
Such are some of the qualities which are needed in one who 
would be " king o' the core." One other qualification we 
must refer to before we have done with him. He must be 
a man who can issue his orders in " guid braid Scotch," and 
who understands without the aid of a dictionary every word 
and phrase of the native Doric. 

We may now finish our practical part of the subject by 
exhibiting a skip in action, directing the game in the lan- 
guage in which it is generally done. His first player being 
on the crampit, he does not give him any information as to 
what he wants him to do, but simply plants his besom- 



144 WINTER SPORTS 

shank upon the tee. " Ye ken what 's wantit." " Oh ! be 
cannie." " Cannily down the howe ice." " Jist smell the 
ring an' I '11 no blame ye." He is a good skip who begins 
with caution and all through plays a cautious game. " A 
guid calm shot is aye the best." So the first stone comes 
" snoovin' up the howe." It does not quite reach the tee, 
and thus becomes a " perfect patlid " ; it rests a foot or two 
in front of the tee, but it pleases the skip all the more, for 
"It 's in the way o' promotion." It is now the turn of the 
opposing skip to direct. Had the first stone rested on the 
tee he would have called for its removal, but with caution 
he would have said, " Draw to the face of this." " Just 
wittyr high, and no more." He asks for " a quiet draw." 
Too much force, and if he missed, he is owre a' ice, too little 
and he places the first stone on the tee and himself lies a 
guard to the enemy. So he leaves that stone alone and 
with " a quiet draw" he gets his stone beside it, none the 
worse that its line of promotion is not the direct line to the 
tee, f or " a sidelin shot " may prove better than a patlid in 
the end. To get his stone promoted and guarded is now 
skip No. i's aim. So " Jist crack an egg on this" is his direc- 
tion ; but the player has been too timid, and the stone lags 
on its journey, so the skip calls for the help of the sweepers. 
" Gie him heels, gie him heels ! " " Soop him up, soop him 
up ! " and by the aid of elbow-grease the desired work is 
done ; his stone is on the tee and guarded. " Weel soopit, 
lads." " Come up, Sandy, an' look at it." " Take yersel' 
by the han'." " I 'se gie ye a snuff for that." These and 
suchlike are the expressions of the skip's satisfaction. 
" Rub off the guard, but dinna throw away your stone" is 
now skip No. 2's direction. But it is a raging shot, and 




Photograph by Underwood & Underwood, New York 

THE CURLERS 



THE SKIP i4S 

missing the guard it is through the " brough" like Jehu and 
awa' to the " caff-neuk." Skip No. i is jubilant, he is " shot 
and guarded." " Big on." " Pile on the agony," he cries, 
as his second player comes forward, and this is his demand 
for a double guard. " Owre the hog and you 're a great one." 
There! "That 's anither mote i' their ee." "That's a 
seed in their teeth," and with a self-satisfied smile skip No. 
i steps aside to see how skip No. 2, with his second player, 
will deal with the situation. Two courses at least are open. 
He can curl round the guards and find the winner, or by an 
outwick on his first player's stone he can force that upon 
the winner and leave it shot. Then all the guarding of No. 
1 is in his favor, and No. 1 is crestfallen. So the game pro- 
ceeds. " New efforts, new schemes, every movement de- 
mands." The whole situation may alter in a moment, for 
it is a slippery game. The skip must be thoroughly alive ; 
he must take in the position at a glance; his treasury of 
resources must be inexhaustible, and so must his treasury 
of words and phrases. The point-game gives only a selec- 
tion of the movements which take place as the battle is 
fought around the tee. 

Here is a selection of skip speech suited to these and other 
situations which may be heard any day in the progress of 
a bonspiel. 

"A canny draw." "Tee-high weight and no more." 
" Oh, be cannie." " Jist come creepm' up." " Come to 
the door o' the hoose." 

"0 for a guard! " " Owre the colly and ye 're a great 
shot." " Lie back." " Guard the winner." " Dinna let 
him see that again." " Wait on him, men." " Watch that 
ane." "Keep him sweet." "Kittle him week" "Block 

L 



146 WINTER SPORTS 

the ice." " Fill the port." " Come creepin' doun to the 
back o' this ane." " Lift him an ell and lie yoursel'." 
'■' Lie in the bosom o' the winner." " An inwick aff this 
and ye 're shot yersel'." " Curl in to your grannie's wing." 
" Dinna flee the guard." " Break up the guards." 
" Through the port and ye '11 find the winner." " Let him 
die." "Ne'er a kowe." "Besoms up!" "See him 
through." " He 's a collie, tak' him by the neck." 

There are many other points which, as the game proceeds, 
demand attention. A double wick may have to be made, 
or the curler may have to chuckle — i.e. " to make a suc- 
cession of inwicks up a port to a certain object." At times 
he must simply come up in desperation to the skip's cry, 
" A' the pouther i' the horn," run out some stone with a bul- 
let shot, straight and sure. 

Rebutting (says Sir Richard Broun) is towards the end 
of the game when the ice is blocked up, and the aspect of the 
game hopeless or desperate, to run the gauntlet through 
the same. The effect produced by a stone driven furiously 
among double and treble guards is often truly surprising. 

And the same writer thus describes another desperate 
movement : — 

Cannoning, when the game has become complex, and 
the shot difhcult to be taken in any other way, is the com- 
bined operation of making a guard butt off the winner, and 
follow in with your own stone — thus turning an instru- 
ment of defence into one of offence : viz. by striking it in 
such a position as that the guard shall take the winner at a 
slight angle, and so cause both to spin out, whilst the stone 
projecting these movements shall follow up and remain 
the shot. This, which is nearly, in billiard terms, walking a 



THE SKIP 147 

cannon, requires less dexterity than strength, and is very 
often effective play, for only strike strong enough, and fifty 
times to one the guard driven will not hit so dead upon the 
winner as merely to take its place — ■ the smallest possible 
variations from the direct causing it to diverge. " Come 
away, my boy ! Don't spare the powder I " is always a 
jocose direction, exciting interest on both sides, and often 
from the opposite end of the rink have we seen the sole of 
our president's stone over his head when he had to lift up 
double guards, or take a shot (a favorite one with him) of 
this description, and been delighted with the consternation 
of the adversary, as — 

With full force, careering furious on, 
Rattling it struck aside both friend and foe, 
Maintained its course and took the victor's place. 

On such " high-fated " blows victory or defeat in a curling 
match very often depends. It is in these final decisive mo- 
ments that the skill, coolness, and courage of the skip are 
put to the test. The excitement is intense. A stillness 
as of death prevails when the fate of war depends on that 
last stone which the veteran warrior is about to deliver. 
He plays it; with breathless anxiety every one watches its 
career. He has it. He wins the match. The besoms are 
flung high in air. Loud shout the victors. Then all leave 
the rink and gather round the social board, where they 
fight their battles over again. The hero of the hour is 
toasted, and for generations to come his fame as a curler will 
be remembered in the parish or the club which he has 
exalted to honor by his marvellous deed. 

In the Badminton Library, pub- ~ ***- J 0HN KeRR ' 

lished by Longmans, Green & Co. 



THE JOLLY CURLERS 

Of a' the games that e'er I saw, 
Man, callant, laddie, birkie, wean, 

The dearest far aboon them a', 
Was aye the witching channel stane. 

Chorus 

! for the channel-stane ! 
The fell-gued game, the channel-stane ! 
There's ne'er a game that e'er I saw 
Can match auld Scotland's channel-stane. 



I've been at bridals unco glad, 
Wi' courtin' lasses wondrous fain. 

But what is a' the fun I've had, 
Compare it wi' the channel-stane ? 
1 for, etc. 

I've played at quoiting in my day, 

And may be I may do 't again, 
But still unto myself I'd say, 
This is no the channel-stane. 
O ! for, etc. 

148 



THE JOLLY CURLERS 149 

Were I a sprite in yonder sky, 

Never to come back again, 
I'd sweep the moon and starlets by, 

And beat them at the channel-stane. 
! for, etc. 

We'd boom across the milky way, 

One tee should be the Northern Wain, 
Another, bright Orion's ray, 
A comet for a channel-stane. 
1 for, etc. 

— James Hogg. 



THE HUMORS OF CURLING 

Curling is a serious game, but it is nothing if it is not 
humorous. The curling season has been called " the Satur- 
nalia of Scottish life." As if the ordinary humdrum ar- 
rangement of the elements were too monotonous a business, 
nature herself takes a humorous turn. On river and loch 
she builds " crystal brigs," hangs icicles on the eaves, turns 
the raindrops into hail and the vapor into snow, stops the 
plough in the furrow, takes the feet from the horses, and 
plays pranks with John Frost over hill and dale. It is she 
that is mainly responsible for curling humor. The con- 
ditions are favorable : crisp, exhilarating air, picturesque 
landscape, the slipperiness of the board, the enthusiasm of 
the players, the glorious uncertainties of the game, all com- 
bine to make that atmosphere of humor in which curling 
lives, moves, and has its being. Now, it is impossible to 
bottle up this atmosphere and carry it away. It cannot be 
transferred to the pages of a book. Golf and curling are 
in this respect alike, and by a change of two words Mr. 
Balfour's remark on the former is applicable to the latter 
game. " The humors of curling can be but very imper- 
fectly exhibited in description or illustrated by anecdote. 
... It is only on the ice that these humors can be studied : 
it is only by those who are familiar with the game that they 
can be appreciated." We, therefore, attempt no analysis 
150 



THE HUMORS OF CURLING 151 

of the humorous in curling, and only try to outline very 
imperfectly some of its phases. It is found hidden in the 
very words of the players. A stone on the tee is a patlid, 
one on each side and the tee is a fire. A ridge along the ice 
is a sow's back, a lazy stone which grunts and settles down 
too soon is a hog, a stone which once down remains in spite 
of all attempts to move it is a clockin-hen. And so on. 
In the phrases, too, it is the same. Both poetry and humor 
are blended in the flow of metaphor which connects the 
beginning with the end of the game, and the game of to-day 
with that of centuries ago. Scottish metaphor, let us call 
it, for the humor of it is so distinctly Scottish that Sydney 
Smith could not possibly see it. The humor is of the dry 
quality, and no extra sec of Mumm or Heidsieck is half so 
delightful as it is to watch a pawky, cannie, old skip ma- 
noeuvring a game of curling. " Come cannilie creepin' doun." 
" Eh, man, ye 're no up, but I like to see you hoggin'." " As 
guid 's a better." These two last are really rebukes, but 
the humor takes the sting out of them. When the stone 
goes raging over the tee and away to limbo the same gentle 
art covers the error with the remark " it was ance shot." 
" Wha said ye couldna curl ? " is his way of paying the highest 
compliment. He clothes his direction to remove the enemy 
with humor by saying — " Jist gie this a wee bit cuff on 
the cheek," and he converts the blunder of removing the 
wrong stone into innocence by the remark, " Ye 've waukened 
the wrang man." With playful allusion to the profession 
of each player, the fun of the game is carried on. From the 
tailor he asks attention to a fine "pair o' breeks " ; the doctor 
is requested to " repeat the dose " ; the lawyer is to serve 
" decreet of removal " on one stone, and another he must 



iS2 WINTER SPORTS 

take to avisandum. In the minister's case the stone, like 
the sermon, is " weel delivered/' and if a scriptural allusion 
is not out of place, 'tis " a rale Ebenezer — a stane o' help." 
When the self-satisfied grave digger calls out to the skip, 
" I think that ane '11 lie," there is a bit of quiet grim wit in 
the response " Aye, aye, man, nae fear o' that; they a' lie 
that ye pit doun." 

That equality which is one of the features of curling, and 
under which the humblest workman, by reason of his su- 
perior skill, is entitled to rule and direct the man of highest 
rank, is accountable for some of the humorous in curling. 
" Cats dinna catch mice wi' mits on" is the horny-handed son 
of toil's hint to the gentleman to take off his gloves. A 
worthy sheriff was one day playing to the direction of a 
stone-mason, whom he had sent to prison more than once 
for poaching, but to whom the sheriff had to look up when 
it came to curling : " Noo, Shirra," said the poacher-skip, 
" dae ye see that stone ?" " Aye, Jock," answered the Sheriff. 
" A' weel, Shirra," says Jock, pointing to the stone with his 
kowe, " just gie that ane sixty days." " Fit your tee and 
play to direction, an' we '11 sune make ye a man and a curler/' 
was the greeting of a corduroy skip to a scion of nobility 
who for the first time stepped upon the crampit. Lord 
Balfour, at the Jubilee dinner of the Royal Club, referring 
to the equality of the rink, said he had heard of it " being 
very amusingly illustrated one day in a railway carriage in 
which a party were travelling the somewhat tedious jour- 
ney to Carsebreak. One individual in the carriage had 
bought a morning paper, and while reading it turned to a 
friend seated in the other corner of the compartment and 
said, 'Eh, Geordie, I see you are drawn agin a lord the day.' 



THE HUMORS OF CURLING 153 

Geordie did not say much in reply, but looking around he 
quietly remarked, 'Weel, maybe I'll be the lord afore 
nicht.' " More than once the Earl of Eglinton, that keen 
sportsman, figures in anecdotes of this kind. One must 
suffice. The Earl was one day called upon as skip to play 
out the leading-stone of his opponent. For a time the 
course of his stone promised success, but in the end it passed 
by, leaving the winner untouched. His third stone, Hugh 
Conn, watching in great excitement the approach of the 
gay-crested, silver-handled charger, was heard ejaculating 
at the various stages of its progress, " Bravo, my Lord ! 
Bravo, my Lord ! ! Bravo, my Lord ! ! ! Oh, Lord, I de- 
clare ye wad miss a haystack." The clergy generally are 
great supporters of curling, and many of them are adepts in 
the art. A young Ayrshire minister, having one day in a 
match surprised everybody by a shot which required great 
strength, was saluted thus by a weaver, " My certy, you 're 
a bonny man to mak' a minister o\" More than once a 
minister's curling capabilities have helped him in his can- 
didature for a parish, and his people esteem him all the more 
when he can make a good appearance on the ice. They 
would rather have " cauld kail het again," i.e. an old sermon 
on Sunday, than lose his presence, as is evidenced in the 
story of the Cupar curlers whose minister had been dis- 
coursing on the faults and fate of Judas several Sundays 
before the frost came, and who wished to leave the Saturday 
evening festivities after the first day's curling. " Na, na, 
doctor," said they all, " ye mauna gang awa' and leave us 
this way for sake o' the sermon. Jist gie Judas anither 
wallop i' the tow." No doubt it was a stormy day, and the 
few who were present were curlers, but perhaps the past 



154 WINTER SPORTS 

week's play had also to do with it, when, after the " pre- 
liminaries " the Rev. Mr. Torrance one Sunday brought the 
service in Glencorse church to a close with this intimation : 
" My friends, as the day is stormy, and there may be a danger 
of some of you being the worse for sitting in this cold church, 
I shall not detain you by preaching the sermon, but shall 
now dismiss the congregation ; and, remember, we all meet 
on the ice to-morrow at eleven o'clock." The late Dr. 
Aiton of Dolphin ton is said to have summed up a funeral 
sermon on one of his elders, who was a keen curler, in the 
following way : " And now, my friends, he is over the hog- 
score, he is within the inner circle of eternity, and dead- 
guarded." An Episcopal minister in the north was one 
day telling to his Established brother, whom he met on the 
ice, his grief at rinding that a candidate whom he had been 
preparing for confirmation had gone over to Rome. The 
auld Kirk brother's apt and only consolation was this: 
" You 've soopit him past the tee." When his pastor went 
through the ice one day, a callous parishioner remarked, 
" The minister 's in for a guid steepin [stipend] noo." Our 
glimpses of the clerical aspects of curling humor may close 
with the following : " The Rev. Dr. Cook of Bathgate, than 
whom no minister more faithfully led his people on the right 
way, one day played a stone which, instead of good, did 
much harm. 'What have I done, John?' called out the 
doctor, as he saw his skip's agonizing contortions of coun- 
tenance. ' Done, doctor, what have ye no' done ? Ye've 
sent us a' to [the deil] thegither.' ..." 

Curlers are generally good husbands, and all the better 
for their curling. It has an excellent effect on the temper ; 
it clears the brain and warms the heart, and so the ladies 



THE HUMORS OF CURLING 155 

give it their countenance and encourage it in many ways. 
A wife has been known more than once to carry or wheel 
her husband's channel-stanes to a pond miles distant, when 
he was unable to do so himself, although able to play when 
he reached the ice. But the tume aumbrie has, on the other 
hand, caused many a poor woman to lament her guid- 
man's devotion to the roaring game, and the wife of the 
Lochwinnoch wabster who, a la Dame Scott of Harden and 
the dish of spurs, drew from the steaming pot a boiled curl- 
ing-stone, and placed it before her husband for his supper 
in presence of his starving children, no doubt served him 
right. An Ayrshire blacksmith has the credit of cleverly 
outwitting his better half, and getting a fortnight's curling, 
without such a Barmecide feast, by making a piece of cast 
iron red-hot, and when the guidwife came forward to "gie 
him a chap with the forehammer," as she sometimes did, 
the hissing bar " flew into flinders" at the blow. " Do ye no 
see, Jean," said the blacksmith, " that the frost has sic an 
effect on the metal that it breaks to bits when we begin to 
work it ? " The guidwife was satisfied. 

The keenness of Dannie F , a Lanarkshire curler, and 

a late sederunt after the play, was punished rather amus- 
ingly by his wife, without any intention of the kind on her 
part. She had, in Dannie's absence, given the jambs a 
rich coat of tar to improve their appearance, and when 
Dannie slipped quietly home with a reef or two in the wind, 
he settled down to have a " draw " before going to bed, with 
his back against one of the said jambs, and soon fell sound 
asleep. " Come to your bed at once, Dannie," called out his 
guidwife, as she woke after midnight, and found her hus- 
band sleeping at the fireside. " Come awa' to your bed, ye 



156 WINTER SPORTS 

auld cuif, an' no' lie snoring there." Dannie made a des- 
perate effort to get up, but found it was quite impossible, 
for he was firmly glued to the newly tarred fireside. " Pre- 
serve us a', Janet," he exclaimed, " this maun really be an 
awfu' frost. I doot there '11 be news o' this yet. I declare 
to guidness if I 'm no' frozen to the very jamb." 

— Rev. John Kerr. 

Badminton Library, Longmans, Green, & Co. 



THE POINT GAME 

The ordinary game of curling is played rink against rink, 
each rink consisting of four players, and each player using 
two stones. It is as these players seek to lay their own 
stones nearest the tee, and to strike out the stones of their 
opponents, that the various points of the game emerge. 
The number of points arising in a game is simply endless. 
No two heads or ends are exactly the same. Like Cleo- 
patra's charms, custom cannot stale their infinite variety. 
To practise all the points in a single-handed competition is 
therefore impossible. In the regulations drawn up by the 
Royal Club for this point game, for which local medals are 
given, eight points are selected, a ninth, outwicking, being 
played only to decide a tie. These rules, and the various 
diagrams with the explanation of each of the nine points, 
are now introduced, and may be recommended for study. 

Rules for Point Competitio 1 

i. Competitors shall draw lots for the rotation of play, 
and shall use two stones. 

2. The length of the rink shall not exceed 42 yards ; any 
lesser distance shall be determined by the umpire. 

3. Circles of 7 feet and 4 feet radius shall be drawn round 

1 These rules and definitions are applicable only to competitions for the 
medals given by the Royal Club, and are not intended to supersede any 
regulations made by local clubs in competing for their own private medals. 
iS7 



158 





3U00S >• MOVfl 
18 IN. FOOT SCORE 



WINTER SPORTS 

<■ 14 Feet > 




The Curling Rink 



8. CHIPPING THEWJMEB 



4. GUAFTOITC 

Points in Competition Play 



THE POINT GAME 159 

the tee, and a central line through the centre of the 4-foot 
circle to the hog-score. 

4. Every competitor shall play four shots at each of the 
eight following points of the game; viz. striking, in- 
wicking, drawing, guarding, chap and lie, wick and curl in, 
raising, and chipping the winner, according to the following 
definitions. (See below and the preceding diagram.) 

5. In Nos. 2, 6, 8, and 9, each competitor shall have two 
chances on the left and two on the right. 

6. No stone shall be considered without a circle unless 
it is entirely clear of that circle. In every case a square is 
to be placed on the ice to ascertain when a stone is without 
a circle, or entirely clear of a line. 

Definition of Points 1 

1. Striking. — A Stone placed on the Tee. If struck, to 
count 1 ; if struck out of the 7-foot circle, to count 2. 

2. Inwicking. — A Stone being placed on the Tee, and 
another with its inner edge 2 feet 6 inches from the Tee, and 
its fore edge on a line drawn from the Tee at an angle of 
45 with the central line. 

If the played Stone strike the latter on the inside, to 
count 1 ; if it perceptibly move both Stones, to count 2. 

1 It will save much time if, in playing for local medals, two rinks be pre- 
pared lying parallel to each other, the tee of the one being at the reverse 
end of the other rink ; every competitor plays both stones up the one rink, 
and immediately afterwards both down the other, finishing thus at each 
round all his chances at that point. 

It will also save time if a code of signals be arranged between the marker 
and the players, such as, the marker to raise one hand when 1 is scored 
and both hands when 2 are scored. In the case of a miss hands to be kept 
down. 



i6o WINTER SPORTS 

3. Drawing. — If the Stone played lies within or on the 
7-foot circle, to count 1 ; if within or on the 4-foot circle, 
to count 2. 

4. Guarding. — A Stone placed on the Tee. If the 
Stone played rests within 6 inches of the central line, to 
count 1 ; if on the line, to count 2. It shall be over the 
Hog, but not touch the Stone to be guarded. 

5. Chap and Lie. — If a Stone placed on the Tee be 
struck out of the 7-foot circle, and the played Stone lie 
within or on the same circle, to count 1 ; if struck out of 7- 
foot circle, and the played Stone lies within or on the 4-foot 
circle, to count 2. 

6. Wick and Curl In. — A Stone being placed with its 
inner edge 7 feet distant from the Tee, and its fore edge on 
a line making an angle of 45 with the central line. 

If the Stone is struck, and the played Stone curls on or 
within the 7-foot circle, to count 1 ; if struck, and the played 
Stone curls on or within the 4- foot circle, to count 2. 

7 . Raising. — A Stone placed with its centre on the 
central line and its inner edge 3 feet distant from the Tee. 

If struck into or on the 7-foot circle, to count 1 ; if struck 
into or on the 4-foot circle, to count 2. 

8. Chipping the Winner. — A Stone being placed on the 
Tee, and another with its inner edge 10 feet distant, just 
touching the central line, and half guarding the one on the 
Tee, and a third Stone being placed 4 feet behind the Tee, 
with its inner edge touching the central line, but on the 
opposite side from that on which the guard is placed. 

If the played Stone strikes the Stone placed behind the 
Tee, to count 1; if it strikes the Stone on the Tee, to 
count 2. 



THE POINT GAME 161 

9. Outwicking. — In the event of two or more competi- 
tors gaining the same number of shots, they shall play four 
shots at Outwicking; that is, a Stone being placed with its 
inner edge 7 feet distant from the Tee, and its centre on a 
line making an angle of 45 with the central line. 

If struck within or on the 7-foot circle, to count 1 ; if 
struck within or on the 4-foot circle, to count 2. 

If the competition cannot be decided by these shots, the 
umpire shall order one or more of the preceding points to 
be played again by the competitors who are equal. 

It must be understood that proficiency in this single- 
handed play does not necessarily imply skill in the whole 
art of curling. Sometimes an indifferent player has won 
the point medal. On the other hand, many curlers of repu- 
tation at the all-round game, such as the late Admiral Mait- 
land Dougal of Scotscraig, have year after year gained dis- 
tinction at points. This kind of play is to regular curling 
what anatomy is to the practice of surgery — a study of 
the bones preparatory to handling the living subject. It 
is therefore worthy of attention. One good purpose it 
certainly serves. It teaches modesty. Few try it whose 
misses are not twice the number of their hits. . . . 

In Canada, where the ice was often " run" or " cooked" by 
having been long played on, some startlingly high scores 
were sometimes made. To make a fair comparison pos- 
sible, it was enacted that the point game should always be 
played on new or virgin ice, and that each of the four shots 
should follow a fresh path. 

Our Canadian brethren, in their point competition, have 
one point additional to the nine which have been described. 
It is thus defined in the Annual of the Manitoba Branch : — 



162 WINTER SPORTS 

Drawing through a Port. — One Stone to be placed with 
its inner edge on the central line, 10 feet in front of the Tee, 
and another Stone placed parallel thereto, and with its 
inner edge 2 feet from the central line ; if the played Stone 
passes between these two Stones without touching either, 
and rests within or on the 14-foot circle, to count 1 ; if within 
or on the 8-foot circle, to count 2. 

No better point than this can be practised. It is one of 
the most useful as it is one of the most difficult, and its 
speedy adoption at home would greatly heighten the 
value of the preliminary practice of the point game. 

— Rev. John Kerr. 

Badminton Library, Longmans, Green, & Co. 



A CURLER'S ELEGY 

When Winter muffles up his cloak, 
And binds the mire like a rock ; 
When to the lochs the curlers flock 

Wi' gleesome speed, 
Wha will they station at the cock? 

Tarn Samson 's dead ! 

He was the king of a' the core, 
To guard, or draw, or wick a bore, 
Or up the rink like Jehu roar, 

In time o' need ; 
But now he lags on Death's hog-score. 

Tarn Samson 's dead ! 

— Robert Burns. 



163 



SNOW-SHOEING 

THE KEY TO THE WINTER FOREST 

A writer of deep suggestiveness has commented on the 
superior advantages of the man on horseback over the man 
on foot ; but this exalted condition, which in certain sea- 
sons gives one a delicious sense of sovereignty, affords 
neither advantage nor charm in the northern climate in 
midwinter. The man to whom all things are possible un- 
der these circumstances is the man on snow-shoes. He 
alone holds the key of the snow-beleaguered forests; to 
him alone is intrusted the right of eminent domain, — the 
privilege, in other words, of seizing for his own use the 
lands of his neighbors ; he alone owns the landscape. 
Great privileges never go save in company with grave re- 
sponsibilities, and not unfrequently with serious perils. 
No one need expect, therefore, to be put into possession of 
the landscape except upon conditions more or less formid- 
able. The snow-shoe is a delightful feature of decoration ; 
how often have we seen it effectively displayed against a 
proper background, and straightway, as if a door had 
been set ajar into another clime, the breath of winter has 
been upon us, the splendor of illimitable fields of snow has 
blinded us, and we have seen in a glance the dark line of 
spruce and fir as it climbs the white peak against the deep 
blue horizon line. But the snow-shoe has its serious and 
even humiliating aspects . The novice who ties it on his moc- 
165 



166 WINTER SPORTS 

casin and goes forth for the first time in rash and exulting 
confidence is likely to meet with swift and calamitous eclipse. 

He mounts the first inviting drift of beautiful snow, only 
to disappear in a humiliation and perplexity from which 
he emerges blinded, breathless, and whiter than the polar 
bear. The unsympathetic jeers of his companions complete 
the discipline and stimulate to further catastrophes, which 
in the end work out the peaceful results of wisdom and 
training. But the secret once learned, snow-shoeing is 
thenceforth a measureless delight. . . . 

On a summer's day the spacious leisure of the forest in- 
vites one to complete cessation of effort ; to that profound 
repose which sets every door ajar for fresh perceptions and 
new influences. But on a clear, cold winter's morning a 
very different spirit is abroad ; not repose, but intensity of 
action, is solicited. There lies the great world from which 
the traces of individual ownership have been almost oblit- 
erated. Who will claim it, and enforce his claim with ab- 
solute possession? It is in response to this inspiring 
challenge that the man on snow-shoes enters the field. If 
he is made of the right stuff, he has the air of a great pro- 
prietor. To him roads and fences and all artificial boundary 
lines are as if they were not ; he owns the landscape, and 
there are moments when he feels as if the sky had been 
hung above his wide free world to give him the last and most 
delicate sensation of adventure. The great joy of the man 
on snow-shoes is the consciousness of freedom. He is re- 
leased from the tyranny of the roads and the impertinent 
intrusion of fences ; places that were once forbidden or in- 
accessible are now open to him ; fields given over to the 
selfishness of agriculture are leased to nature for the nobler 



SNOW-SHOEING 167 

uses of beauty and his personal adventure; there is no 
secluded pond in the woods to which he cannot choose his 
own path ; there is no remote outlook across field or swamp 
to which he cannot swiftly make his way. . . . 

The remoteness, the silence, and the solitude of the winter 
woods are simply enchanting; the sky is softly blue be- 
tween the "bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds 
sang" ; every twig is snow-bound, and the only evidence of 
life is the track of the rabbit or the fox. One tramps on, 
jubilant and self-forgetful, until suddenly some unseen root 
catches in the mesh of the snow-shoe, and then alas for 
human greatness ! But the disaster is only momentary — 
is, indeed, part of the novel and fascinating experience. 
On and on through the deep recesses of the forest one 
makes his way, and at every turn some lovely or impressive 
wintry scene frames itself for permanent hanging in the 
memory. Now it is a little snow-covered hollow, where 
one is sure the mosses grow thick in summer ; now it is a 
solitary tree whose tracery of branches is exquisitely etched 
against the sky ; now it is a side-hill swiftly descending to 
the narrow brook, the music of whose running still lingers 
softly cadenced in the ear of memory ; now it is a sudden 
glimpse of the mountains that rise in the wide silence and 
solitude like primeval altars whose lofty fires are lighted at 
sunrise and sunset ; and now, as one leaves the forest be- 
hind, the last picture is the river winding through the dark, 
wild mountain gorge, its waters " rushing impatient and 
tumultuous over the ice that strives in vain to fetter them. 
— Hamilton Wright Mabie. 

From My Study Fire. 

Copyright, 1890, Dodd, Mead & Co. 



A SNOW-SHOE RUN 

"All the world 's before them where to choose," but the 
individual choice in that Indian file of snow-shoers tramping 
the country-side is subject to the will of the leader appointed 
for the occasion. No one must pass in front of him, fail 
out of line or drop behind the "whipper-in." The sport 
often involves a struggle with the wind or blinding snow, 
in which the chances are good for getting lost and march- 
ing many more miles than were intended. 

By February Quebec fences are decently buried in suc- 
cessive snowfalls, but at Christmas time they are still in 
evidence. The rail variety is easily managed. The tramper 
simply throws himself upon his chest along the top and 
swings his shoes over. Barbed- wire and spike- topped 
fences are harder to cross. Sometimes it is necessary for 
one in the line to go down upon his hands and knees while 
the others jump over the barrier from the top of his back. 
At each icy hilltop the snow-shoer crosses the points of his 
shoes behind and sits down upon them to coast the slope. 
On the other hand, if the snow is too soft upon a steep de- 
scent, the shoes have to be taken off. 

A snow-shoe club has either a country club-house of its 
own or a public rendezvous that can be made the objective 
point of a weekly tramp. There the members sing them- 
selves hoarse and indulge in athletic games, — jambette, 

168 



A SNOW-SHOE RUN 169 

pie crust, bouncing, tug-of-war, or cock-fighting — not with 
birds, but with human beings whose hands are tied to a 
broomstick under their knees. On "Ladies' Night" there 
is a dance or a card party at the club-house and a tramp 
home in couples, perhaps by romantic moonlight. If there 
is no moon, they carry torches, and the ruddy flickering 
light adds picturesqueness to the long belted blankets or 
tunics and tasselled tuques of the snow-shoe runners. The 
uniform of the Quebec Snow-shoe Club, organized more 
than thirty years ago, is a model combination of comfort 
and picturesqueness. It consists of a scarlet tuque with a 
black band and tassel; a white blanket coat piped with 
red, a black-and-red border ; black epaulettes edged with 
red ; capuchin lined with black ; black knee-breeches, 
scarlet stockings, and sash. On the left breast of the coat 
is the club badge — a red-bordered white shield with a 
black letter "Q" in the centre. A pair or two of socks are 
worn below the long stockings, and over them the mocca- 
sins of elk or moose skin. 1 

A pretty picture it is, says W. Campbell, as the snow-shoers 
turn down into a gully, some slipping, some recovering 
from a threatened upset by a feat of balancing, and then, 
still in Indian file, getting over the fence, every man in his 
own peculiar way. Some take it at a leap, others climb 
it cautiously ; some roll over sideways in a lump, pitching 
feet and snow-shoes before them. Some are too slowly 
careful, and, catching a shoe on the top rail, measure their 
full length in the snow. There is no stopping here, for we 
are far from road and railroad, out in the open country, 

1 The foregoing is quoted from an article by Jean N. Mcllwraith, by 
permission of the publishers of Country Life in America. 



170 WINTER SPORTS 

with several miles of field before us, and twenty fences in 
the way. Most of the farmers, with fellow-feeling, have 
left a few rails down, so that there is no obstruction. But 
a tramp is as tame without a tumble as without a fence, so 
here goes for your five feet ten ! Never was there charger 
could take a high fence like a snow-shoer ! As an old song 
of the Montreal Snow-shoers' Club runs : — 

" Men may talk of steam and railroads, 
But too well our comrades know 
We can beat the fastest engines 
In a night tramp on the snow. 

" They may puff, sir, they may blow, sir, 
They may whistle, they may scream — 
Gently dipping, lightly tipping, 

Snow-shoes leave behind the steam I" 



THE SNOW-SHOEING COSTUME 

There is a distinct loss of the picturesque in the adoption 
of the close-fitting knitted sweater in place of the gayer 
characteristic costume of the early Canadian Snow-shoe 
Clubs. A Mackinaw blanket coat with a gay stripe of the 
Club's chosen color, with capuchin hood to match, and a 
knitted stocking cap to be worn either with dangling tassel 
or rolled into a tuque, gives fascinating color to a line of 
snow-shoers. But whether blanket or sweater be worn, 
thoroughly warm woollen underwear is a matter of course; 
with a sweater a light waterproof coat is useful to keep the 
coarse knitting from filling with damp snow; and the 
longest of knitted stockings should be put on as the lum- 
bermen wear them, outside the trousers. The most com- 
fortable way to keep the feet warm is to draw on over the 
woollen stockings at least one pair of well-fitting socks 
rolled over at the top so as to cover the upper edge of the 
moccasin and thus keep out the snow. Boots or stiff-soled 
shoes do not allow the foot-muscles free enough play ; the 
only practical footgear is a pair of flexible moccasins which 
may cost anywhere from seventy-five cents to five dollars 
a pair. They may be made from elk or moose hide, but in 
sections where the snow is liable to become soft and wet it 
is well to secure those which have been oil-tanned and are 
at least approximately waterproof. At every stage of the 



172 WINTER SPORTS 

novice's outfitting he will find that wide differences of 
opinion exist as to what is most serviceable, and the wisest 
plan is to secure the advice of some one of experience who is 
thoroughly familiar with the country and climate in which 
the snow-shoes are to be used. 

Broadly speaking, however, the snow-shoe's lines are 
the same as when one of the early travellers among the 
Indians of the lower provinces wrote : — 

"The frames of their snow-shoes were of beech, of the 
thickness of those used in playing tennis, but longer and 
wider and of the same form without a handle. The length 
of each was the distance from the waist to the ground. 
They placed in them two pieces of wood which ran across 
at a distance from one another equal to the length of the 
foot. They were corded with mooseskin dressed to parch- 
ment. This was cut into very long cord, both thick and thin. 
The thick were placed in the middle part of the snow-shoe, 
where the foot rests between the two sticks ; the thin were 
used at the two ends. Close against the stick in the front 
there was left an opening in the middle of the snow-shoe to 
admit the toe in walking. This was in order that the shoe 
might not rise behind, but do nothing but drag." 

Modifications of this type there are to suit different con- 
ditions, and as the forests and the game supply have 
dwindled it has become more difficult to obtain certain pre- 
ferred woods and skins; but the best skill of civilization 
has made no essential improvement in the work of the 
untutored savage. Only one radical change in even the 
materials used has been strongly advocated, and this has 
not yet been generally accepted. Mr. W. H. Harmon, 
described as "a snow runner of great experience," is quoted 



THE SNOW-SHOEING COSTUME 173 

as claiming that instead of rawhide webbing, wire picture 
cord, which he uses altogether, is strongest, lightest, and 
least affected by moisture. 

In the making of a snow-shoe, a strip of white ash, birch, 
hickory, or tamarack, as the maker prefers or can obtain 
the wood, as free from knots or changes in grain as possible, 
is shaped by patient shaving to the necessary thinness. 
A shoe for rough bush running should be stronger than one 
made for speedy work upon a prepared course ; such a racing 
shoe is frequently less than a quarter of an inch in thick- 
ness. This strip after thorough steaming — it can be done 
in an old wash-boiler — is carefully bent into the desired 
shape, a broad oval at one end tapering to the point made 
by lashing the ends of the strip together for a few inches ; 
frequently the oval is not exactly symmetrical, for where 
a wide shoe is necessary on account of fresh light snows, the 
foot-space is not placed in the centre, but slightly nearer 
the inside edge in order to decrease the width of the tiring 
" straddle." Back and front cross-sticks are inserted, the 
frame is securely tied to prevent an alteration of shape 
during drying, and is hung away to season, sometimes for 
months. This most common shape, an oval curving up 
slightly in front and with a narrow, extending tail, is often 
referred to as the Iroquois pattern and may cost from three 
dollars up. Nowadays, owing to a scarcity of caribou or 
moosehide, the usual material for the laced web is cowhide 
for the broad-meshed centre, and calfskin in narrower strips 
for the fine meshes in front of the toe and behind the heel. 
The strips of rawhide are themselves the result of several 
days of work spent in soaking, stretching, twisting, and 
using any other discoverable means so to prepare the skin 



174 WINTER SPORTS 

that there is the least danger of its stretching under the 
strain of use and moisture. When fresh snow has fallen 
upon a sjiff crust, it often happens that the shoe sinks into 
the soft surface snow and must be pulled free, with perhaps 
several pounds of snow upon it. If these leather strips, 
called babiches, have not been sufficiently well-stretched 
before the mesh is made, the result is a baggy shoe, which 
forces the wearer to lift his foot at every step an inch or 
more higher than he otherwise does, puts him in constant 
fear of tripping, and becomes an unsupportable nuisance. 

The putting on of a snow-shoe is hardly a thing to be 
attempted by the inexperienced without personal instruc- 
tion ; and even among experts the best method of tying the 
thong so as to allow the greatest freedom consistent with 
security is an inexhaustible topic when swift and strong 
runners gather after a run in front of a blazing fire. A 
thong too tightly drawn is certain to bring on the cramp, 
the mat du racquet, dreaded by beginners, while the loss of 
a snow-shoe in midnight leads to a sad misuse of good old 
English words. 

The commonest way is to have the snow-shoe fitted with 
a permanent toe-strap above the forward cross-stick. In 
the mesh between the cross-sticks, where the weight of the 
foot is to come, eyelets and an open space to allow the toes 
freer movement have been made in the coarse web in the 
making of the net. The wearer lays his long, thoroughly 
stretched thong in a loop slightly larger than his foot, 
passes the ends of the thong down through the eyelets and 
up again, one on each side of the toe-hole. Then he slips 
his toe under the strap and lifts the loop of the thong above 
his heel so that it forms a strap around the back and sides 



THE SNOW-SHOEING COSTUME 175 

of the foot which can be drawn taut by taking an end of the 
thong in each hand and pulling in the slack. The ends of 
the thong are next crossed over the instep, caught under 
the tightened sidebands with a half -hitch to prevent slip- 
ping, and finally brought around to the back of the heel and 
securely tied. 

In both shape and size snow-shoes differ greatly, as has 
been said, according to the country over which they are to 
be used. The racing runner along a smooth crust may wear 
a narrow shoe less than four feet long. The hunting snow- 
shoe of the Crees is about six feet long; from the open 
country south of Hudson's Bay come specimens as long 
as eight feet. The Esquimaux, on the other hand, have 
two types, of which one is very nearly a triangle, about 
eighteen inches long, and the other is almost circular. The 
Montagnais in the French Canadian provinces have a short- 
tailed round variety known as the " frying-pan," while a 
small tailless shoe, called the " bear's paw, " is a great favor- 
ite among rabbit hunters who need to be able to turn swiftly 
among stumps and stones. The lumbermen of Oregon 
and the far northwest use a shoe oval at each end, though 
not so much circular as egg-shaped in outline, with the 
same object of easily clearing obstructions. 

Hans Gadow, in writing of his travels in northern Spain, 
mentions stopping for a gossip with villagers in a small 
" general store," such as is in those mountains so fitly called 
an "Area de Noe" — Noah's Ark ! and continues : — 

" Besides much local information and gossip, they spoke 
of the great amount of snow which in the winter covers 
everything to the height of many feet, and in answer to my 
inquiry how they managed to get about in the deep snow, 



176 WINTER SPORTS 

they said that they then used their barahones. 'Very 
likely, but what are barahones?' 'Hombre, barahones, 
for walking on the snow ! ' As this did not bring us nearer 
to an understanding, and as nobody knew how to enlighten 
my ignorance, Father Noah disappeared and came back 
with a veritable pair of snow-shoes. That was a discovery ! 
Fancy snow-shoes in Spain, a country which we invariably 
associate with a broiling sun. The 'shoe' consists of two 
flat but curved pieces of wood, from twelve to fourteen 
inches long, joined together by two cross-bars, upon which 
the boot rests, the latter being fastened by leather thongs, 
as shown in the accompanying sketch. These snow-shoes 
have consequently nothing in common with the Nor- 
wegian ski, except that they present surface enough to pre- 
vent the wearer from sinking into the snow. When the 
latter is fresh and loose, they are probably useless. In 
spite of many inquiries in other villages, these shoes as well 
as their name were found to be unknown, and even when I 
showed our own sample, which Rafael had kindly made for 
us, the people did not understand its meaning. A curious 
instance of limited local distribution. A month later, in 
the Basque province of Alava, these things were understood, 
and were called bore-ruelas in Spanish, but ours were 
severely commented upon, because theirs are made of 
square pieces of wood. The priest at Riano quite agreed 
with me that barahones was not exactly a Spanish-sounding 
word, but with a shrug of his shoulders he asked what else 
such things could be called." 



A NOVICE ON SNOW-SHOES 

Obviously, the most important preparation for a winter 
tramp in the North Woods was to learn to walk on snow- 
shoes. We had some misgivings as to the learning, mis- 
givings carefully fostered by our more experienced friends. 
But we boldly tied on our shoes, and to our great surprise, 
walked off across the snow with ease if not with grace. A 
very short pilgrimage filled us with pride at our remarkable 
skill ; but the proverbial fate of such arrogance arrived with 
rather more than its usual suddenness. A fall on snow- 
shoes has both advantages and disadvantages. It is 
practically impossible to hurt yourself in deep soft snow; 
but the problem of getting to your feet again is a compli- 
cated one, especially if one foot has slipped out of its toe- 
strap, as it generally has. 

A few falls teach you the most obvious things to be 
avoided, and progress is smoother. You think that you 
are already nearing perfection in the art. You smile 
scornfully as you think of the predictions of your friends. 
But if at this point you start off for a tramp with an ex- 
perienced snow-shoer, and try to follow him closely, you 
soon learn your error. The rudiments of snow-shoe travel 
are easy to acquire; but the "long and limber stride," in 
perfect unconsciousness of your strange foot-gear, which 
I carries you through the woods for hours faster than you 
n 177 



i/S WINTER SPORTS 

can travel on bare ground, is a thing which only experience 
can bring. There are hitherto unsuspected muscles to be 
trained, which soon make their presence known by com- 
plainings "not loud but deep." You must learn by experi- 
ment just how tight to pull the thongs that secure the snow- 
shoes. 

An ascent of a steep slope on snow-shoes is an arduous 
task. The smooth under surface of the snow-shoe has 
nothing to catch in the crust and give a purchase for the 
next step. Four times out of five it begins to slip as you 
throw your weight forward for the stride, and either slides 
back to where you were before or twists around sideways. 
Snow-shoes are intended, by the nature of their being, to 
move straight forward. When one of them has started off 
downhill at an angle of ninety degrees from the other, and 
when the footing of that other is none too stable, the task 
of bringing them once more into their proper relations is 
a complicated and delicate one. The snow-shoe must be 
coaxed, not treated violently ; a sudden twist may pull the 
foot from under the toe-strap. Then the shoe, which is 
still attached to the ankle by its thongs, gives a good imi- 
tation of the ball and chain of a convict. Untying frozen 
thongs and reinstating a foot in its snow-shoe with the 
thermometer at twenty degrees below zero is no pleasant 
task under the most favorable circumstances; but when 
you are perched on a slope like the roof of a house on a sin- 
gle snow-shoe which manifests an insane desire to slip 
backward to the foot of the incline, it is well-nigh impossible. 
But you soon get used to accomplishing the impossible. 
— Harold J. Rowland. 

Copyright, 1905. Reprinted by permission of the Outlook Company. 



IN THE CARIBOU COUNTRY 

We were in the caribou country. Far north, wrapped 
in his white shroud, lay Mistassini sleeping through the 
long white silence until Wa-Wa called him. Nearer, to the 
left, lay the Big Flat Water drowsing under a pallid coverlid 
a fathom thick. Over all sprang an arch of mysterious 
gray, that seemed to draw in and narrow slowly, silently, 
steadily, while we looked. Far as we could see, stretching 
in one soundless cordon until they dwindled to mere mounds 
in the distance, stood what had been sturdy conifers. Now 
they were tents — drear domes of death they seemed, 
pitched there by the army of the Arctic for a bitter bivouac. 
We stood before the small cabin and looked eastward. No 
sign of the sun, although he had been up an hour. Some- 
where behind the sad gray veil he was shining with the 
wonderful brilliancy of the North, but that day he would 
cast no velvet shadows for us. 

"Well, wot you tink?" inquired Jo. 

I hardly knew what to say. Something in the feel of the 
air, in the pervading grayness, counselled caution, yet here 
was the last day of my leave, and as yet the twelve-gauge 
had not spoken to the game I particularly wanted, — the 
ptarmigan in its full winter plumage. 

Jo waited with all the patience of the Indian cross which 
browned his skin and blackened his long, straight hair. 
179 



180 WINTER SPORTS 

What he thought of the prospect did not matter, nor would 
he tell — his kind never do until after it is all over. All he 
wanted out of me was a decision one way or the other. If 
I said, "Go," he would lead away north without a word of 
comment; if I said, "No," he would merely go into the 
cabin and He and smoke. Perhaps toward night he might 
say, "We 'd best gone." He was a picturesque-looking 
tramp in the gay garb of the lumberman. How much he 
had on underneath I could only guess, but it was quite 
enough to spoil the outline of what was naturally a beauti- 
ful, lean, strong figure. On his head, six feet from his 
heels, was a shocking bad hat, a black felt he had picked up 
somewhere. Bad as it was, it stuck on and shaded his 
eyes. His long hair protected his ears and that was suffi- 
cient. Only his small, narrow feet were Indian. They 
were hidden in as pretty a pair of moccasins as I had seen. 
But a glance at his face told the story. Somewhere not 
far back in Jo's pedigree lay the cross, and in this case the 
blending of the blood of the indomitable voyageur with 
that of the redskin had produced a grand man, — game, 
untiring, wizard of woodland, a child till the hot blood was 
roused ; an Indian when the devil was unchained. 

For a few moments I hesitated. If I could only translate 
the flash of the wonderful aboriginal eyes or guess what 
lay behind the mystical bronze mask, — but that was 
impossible. Once more my eyes turned northward. The 
grayness seemed a trifle paler, and a puff of air, keen as if 
from the very Pole, met me. "Looks like snow — too 
cold to snow," I muttered ; then added louder : — 

"We '11 try it." 

The black eyes twinkled an instant with an indescribable 



IN THE CARIBOU COUNTRY 181 

flash, then he turned into the cabin. As I followed I heard 
him give utterance to a peculiar low grunt, which might 
have meant anything or. nothing. I would have given 
something to have been able to translate it, for beyond 
question my decision had raised or lowered his estimation 
of my woodcraft and general qualifications. I acquired 
wisdom later. 

Within five minutes we were ready. Jo had carefully 
watched the flask, sandwich, shells, and tobacco go into my 
pockets, and again had grunted softly when I examined my 
matchbox. Then, without a word he led the way on the 
creaking, netted shoes which alone rendered walking a 
possibility. He was a mighty pace-maker. Snow-shoeing 
is the hardest of hard work, and Jo certainly showed me all 
there was in it. Before half a mile had been covered he had 
me fumbling with mittenless hand at the unruly button at 
my throat, and by the time a mile lay behind, my forehead 
was damp in spite of an air that nipped like a mink-trap. 
At length we reached the edge of a tongue of fir woods, 
where Jo paused. Before spread a mile-broad open, where 
some old fire had bitten to the bone. In summer this was 
an artistic expanse of lichened rocks, with low, lean scrub 
between; now it spread like a frozen sea, with stiffened 
billows half buried in purest snow. For minutes he stood, 
while his eyes scanned every yard of white from his feet 
to the irregular skyline. 

"Mebbe car'boo," he muttered, as he rolled his eyes 
toward a slight depression which I should have passed by. 
Then he stooped and thrust his hand into the snow. 

"Big bull — old," was all the comment he made as he 
straightened and again led the way. 



i82 WINTER SPORTS 

Evidently the open had no attraction for him, for he 
swung off to the right, keeping along the edge of the cover. 
Here what breeze there was had full sweep, and it nipped 
keenly at the nose, cheeks, and chin. Already my heavy 
mustache was burdened with ice, and a certain caution 
about breathing had developed. But Jo did not appear 
to bother about trifles like that, although his bronzed face 
did show a warmer color. His steady, remorseless gait 
never changed, and the rear view of him suggested that he 
was apt to go on till spring. Nor was the shoeing easy. 
The old snow-shoer will understand what the conditions 
meant, and while I was in very fair form and no mean per- 
former across country, I thoroughly realized that there was 
an iron man ahead. This too, while merely following a 
pace-maker — a very different matter from leading. 

It was perhaps an hour later when he halted and blew a 
great cloud of steam from his lips. I understood, and at 
once produced the flask and poured him a fair measure into 
the metal cup. The good stuff fairly fell into him — but 
an Indian 's an Indian. 

"You no take?" he queried, while a surprised expression 
flitted across the chasm which had entombed his share. 

"Bad for eyes — snow bad enough now," I retorted, as 
I put away the flask, for Jo's eyes seemed to say that if I 
didn't intend to take any, he might as well have my share. 
But that was not in order. 

Instead of moving forward, he smiled and pointed at the 
snow. "Thur," was all he said. 

I looked and saw one, two, three — a dozen tiny trails, 
as though elfin snow-shoer s had passed that way. They 
were queer little tracks, roundish, indistinct, running in 



IN THE CARIBOU COlJN TRY 183 

single lines, the rear rim of one almost overlapping the fore 
rim of another. Never had I beheld the like. By the size 
of them their makers should have been of considerable 
weight, yet they barely dented the snow. Their arrange- 
ment was grouse-like, and in a moment I had it. Nothing 
but the wonderful snow-shoe foot of the ptarmigan could 
leave a trail like that. 

" Snow-grouse — white — eh ? " I asked. 

He nodded. 

"Fresh — where 'bouts ? " I continued. 
. "Look — look lot," he replied. 

A twinkle in his eye warned me that I had better be 
mighty careful, and I felt certain he had already seen the 
birds. But where ? Standing perfectly still, I first scanned 
the snowy trees. Nothing there. Then remembering the 
ways of the quail and the many times I had detected birds 
upon the ground ahead of the dogs, I began a close scrutiny 
of the snow a few yards ahead. Presently a shiny ebon 
point caught my eye, then a dull point equally black — 
then, as if my eyes had suddenly become properly focussed, 
I made out the soft, white, pigeonlike form of a ptarmigan 
crouched upon the snow. Then another and another 
showed, until I could plainly see seven birds in all. They 
were from about eight to ten yards distant, and as motion- 
less as so many snowballs, which they greatly resembled. 

My right hand rose slowly to my frosted chops, teeth 
seized the point of the heavy mitten, and the bare hand 
slipped forth and closed upon the grip. In five seconds the 
steaming hand felt the nip of the air and the apparently 
red-hot touch of metal. Then I let the mitten fall from 
my mouth. 



i84 WINTER SPORTS 

Purr-r-Wnir-r-bur-r ! The white forms rose something 
like quail, but lacking the hollow thunder and impetuous 
dash of the brave brown bird. Even as the gun leaped to 
shoulder I realized that the white ghosts were not going so 
fast, but true to old quail training, the trigger finger worked 
as though dense cover was only two yards instead of a 
mile away. The first bird stopped — shattered — within 
twenty-five yards, and the second not more than five yards 
beyond its mate. Jo grunted like a bull moose, then dashed 
ahead, and I chuckled as I remembered that this was the 
first time that he had seen a "squaw-gun" in action. But, 
instead of going direct to the birds, he chased on with long 
strides to a point sixty odd yards beyond, and stooping, 
picked up a third ptarmigan which had managed to get 
into line with the second. This he triumphantly retrieved. 
Beautiful, snowy things they were, with the cold, white 
sparks powdering their spotless covering and sticking to the 
hairlike texture of the poor little snow-shoes. Two were 
perfect for mounting, and even the shattered one might, 
with extra care, be saved. So far, so good. I had killed 
my own specimens and added a new bird to the score of 
the veteran twelve-gauge. 

I pocketed the birds, broke the gun, put in fresh shells, 
and, on the strength of an easy but clean kill, produced 
the flask. As Jo took his dose, I noticed his face. In- 
stead of the customary grin, it showed grave and solemn 
as an owl's. The sparkle of the eye, too, was missing, and 
when the sight of a drink didn't make Jo's optics gleam, 
something surely was amiss. 

"You f oiler dem?" he tersely queried, as I made a sig- 
nificant motion. I was somewhat astonished. 



IN THE CARIBOU COUNTRY 185 

"Bad luck kill dem — look dur !" 

Something in his voice startled me, and my eyes flashed 
northward, whither his long arm pointed. Under great 
stress a man sometimes thinks of whimsical things. What 
I thought was — "I've killed three pups of the North Pole, 
and here 's the whole frapped Arctic Circle coming south to 
see about it !" 

Rolling steadily down, like snowy surf, mountains high, 
came a squall the like of which I had never seen. One 
glance was sufficient. The white mass seemed dense enough 
for good shoeing, and the way in which its deadly advance 
blotted out the landscape was absolutely terrifying. Under 
such a downfall a trail would not show for a minute. 

"Come — quick I" said Jo, as he turned, and the gleam 
in his wild eyes was a solemn warning. 

I have run in a snow-shoe steeplechase over rough coun- 
try, have staggered home, beaten and cooked to a turn 
after one of those desperate efforts which fool men will 
make for a pewter mug, a cheer, and some woman's smile. 
I have been "butchered to make a Roman holiday "on 
sliding seat, steel blades, spiked shoon, and other modern 
refinements, while shrill voices rang and dainty thumbs 
turned down (they all despise a loser !) ; I have been guilty 
of that crime of errors, getting into the "gym" arena with 
the wrong man, but of all the bucketings ever I got, Jo 
gave me the worst ! Peace to his ashes — he was a scared 
Indian and he had no better sense ! 

Only those who have chased a smoke- tanned fire-water 
worshipper on snow-shoes, and about two jumps ahead of 
a blizzard, can understand. I knew that he knew the trail, 
and I vowed that if he lost me, it was my fault. All I could 



i86 WINTER SPORTS 

see was his dim back rising and falling in mighty effort — 
then we ran for it in dead earnest. No picking the way — 
no anything but chase — chase — chase. He never hesi- 
tated nor slackened, and all the while the snow thickened 
and the wind shouted louder and louder at the death song. 
At last, with a roar and a wild horizontal rush of snow, the 
full strength of the storm struck us. Then we heard the 
true howl of the White Wolf of the North, as the men in 
igloos hear it when the sea solidifies. Mercifully it was 
at our backs, — any other point would have meant — but 
there's cold comfort in that ! I knew that if Jo once got 
out of sight, I might not be found till spring ; and winters 
are long on the North Shore. Besides I had things to at- 
tend to later, — my people to see, and my ptarmigan to 
mount, — so I chased on. And ever before me was the 
snowy back, ever in my ears the White Wolf's howl, and 
in my breast the tortured engine pumping to bursting 
strain. I cursed the hampering clothes and the buttons 
that seemed ever drawing tighter, the thongs that cut deep 
now, and the nets that had to be swung true while they felt 
like lead to the feet. 

At last came the blessed " second wind," and none too 
soon, for it found me rocking. The snow-padded back 
was ten yards ahead now, rising and falling with the same 
old motion. Even and anon a savage swirl would hide it 
in a blur of white, but I was going easier and felt I could 
close the gap at will. Presently it vanished, and on the 
instant of its disappearance I realized my danger and 
spurted vigorously. Before I had time to think, Jo was 
again in view, and I mentally vowed that not for my life 
would I let him out of my sight. Indian-like, he had no 



IN THE CARIBOU COUNTRY 187 

idea of halting or looking round to see how I fared. I was 
to follow — if I failed to do so, that was my affair. When 
an Indian gets scared, he 's the worst scared thing imagin- 
able ; and Jo was going to the cabin by the shortest route. 
If I failed to make it, he 'd hunt for me — after the weather 
cleared. 

Through the roar and the whine and the icy fog of it all 
we pounded ahead. First, an uneasy dread took hold of 
me. Did Jo know whither he was drifting? Had his 
instinct for the once failed? We seemed to have covered 
an awfully long route. Then another and worst fear came, 
I was getting tired. No mistake about that. No one 
knew better than their owner why leg muscles were com- 
plaining so. One quarter of a mile farther, if we had to do 
so much, and I'd be done so brown that a bake-oven couldn't 
tan me more. 

What then ? I 'd follow the trail as far as I could, then 
curl up. I had the flask and the infernal ptarmigan, and 
I 'd live on them for two days, anyway. But the cold — 
Oh ! yes, the cold — well, it would freeze me stiff er than 
the North Pole in twenty minutes and then — ? The 
Gray Wolf would come and nuzzle for ears and nose and 
fingers and they 'd snap like icicles and he 'd thaw them in 
his steamy old paunch along with the confounded ptarmi- 
gan ; but his teeth would click and slip on the flint-hard 
larger parts and I 'd at least have the satisfaction of com- 
pelling him to wait for a thaw ! The rasp of a twig across 
my cold nose startled and hurt me so that I roused from 
the first stage of the deadly, cold-begotten drowsiness, and 
dimly realized that I was running into cover. The edge 
of the wood ! Yes, and there was Jo's track and Jo him- 
self just ahead. 



188 WINTER SPORTS 

In ten minutes we were in the cabin. Fifteen minutes 
later we had got rid of snowy outer garb and had looked 
upon something hot and oh ! so welcome. Presently Jo 
raised his drawn face from his hands and said : — 

"Bad to kill dem white snowbird. But you good — run 
like bull moose — else los' !" 

I muttered something — I hate to try to remember what, 
for my eyes were closing in utter weariness. 

— Edwin Sandys. 



ON SNOW-SHOES AMONG SNOW-SLIDES 

After getting really limbered up — for strength and 
staying power are necessaries in the mountains — Dick 
promised to take us on a trip "worth going, " as he described 
it. "I dunno as the girl '11 stand it, but if I read her right, 
she 's game and can go it ; if not, we '11 get her home any- 
how even if we have to carry her." And he meant it, and 
for that matter, any one of those boys would have done 
anything for that girl ; they were proud of her daring to 
come into their " hills," as they called them. It was a 
sight that did one good to see — all their little gallantries 
and kindnesses ; and Leo, — she did her part in return. 
Evenings they would gather around her and she would tell 
them stories of the wonderful eastern city from which she 
hailed, tactfully talking of Coney Island and its marvels 
and so on. Well, the day had come for our expedition. 
Dick planned it all. We were to snow-shoe to a deserted 
prospector's cabin up the Uncompahgre Gulch, stay there 
overnight, and next day push on as far as the highest tim- 
ber line in the world on Mount Tuttle. 

Thus it was on that clear March morning, the four of 
us (for "Blackie," one of the miners, had come along too) 
made our start by starlight. The frozen snow was crusted 
and hard enough to bear without snow-shoes, and we made 
good time. After a bit, however, we slackened pace ; Leo 



i 9 o WINTER SPORTS 

had been walking, chatting, and eating an orange all at the 
same time. At an altitude of twelve thousand feet one 
can't do more than one thing at once ; your breath comes 
all too slowly, and before you know it you feel half strangled, 
and pant and have to rest. Dick laughed and said he saw 
this a-coming. 

What a tramp that was ! When the sun rose, the snow 
softened and we used the "webs." Dick had ski. At 
noon we reached the cabin ; it was almost buried, the snow 
being five feet on the level. 

Next morning we were breaking trail good and early 
again, and still the snow deepened — as deep as I ever saw 
it, eight to ten feet, for we had come to the region where 
snow is permanent the year around. Toward evening the 
weather changed, a heavy snowstorm overtook us. Dick 
was worried and told me he thought there would be a bad 
blizzard before night ; things were beginning to look tough ; 
some of the snow-slides were n't down in the region where 
we were. As I write it my pen quivers, for what words 
can describe that all but tragedy of the trip ? — for even 
as Dick spoke to me the most dreaded thing in those wild 
mountains was happening. Raising his voice, it rang out 
clear and sharp : " Get ahead, there, for God's sake, get 
ahead!" We all knew what he meant; he had told us 
quietly before that if ever such a warning came, at all costs 
not to lose nerve, but simply get right along with the ut- 
most speed. 

It was first just a crunching ; no novice would notice that 
ominous sound. Dick did ; the snow had started to give 
way below; we had started it. I remember little more. 
We all plunged wildly forward. Luckily none of us fell. 



ON SNOW-SHOES AMONG SNOW-SLIDES 191 

We all thought of the girl, the first thought we had. There 
is a space in which one does n't think at all on occasions like 
this. 

How strangled I felt — we all felt — just struggled for 
breath ! What did I see, any of us see ? Just a great 
cloud of white mist, with a terrific rumbling roar. Thank 
God, we were not in it, or else no tale would have been 
written, for we were right on a sheer hillside! We had 
struggled into some quaking asps just in time and had got 
out of the course of the slide. 

After things had quieted down: "Dick," I said, "let's 
make for home." Neither peaks nor timber lines have 
ever attracted us very much, and we had our story. 

— Arthur Hewitt. 

By permission of the Outing Magazine. 



SNOW-SHOE PICNICKING 

A fifteen-minute trial will teach you the rudiments 
of snow-shoeing. It is very simple. You merely step for- 
ward far enough to clear the other shoe. You do not need 
to walk with your feet spread far apart; the inner edges 
of the racquets glide over and over each other with each 
successive step, and the tails of the shoes always remain 
dragging upon the ground. You might better have even 
some of your sarcastic friends around at the first attempt, 
because if you should happen to get a fall into deep snow, 
you will probably be in the position of the boy who went 
swimming with " bladders" tied to his feet. 

And so you go forth into a new world — the woods in 
winter. You thought you were going to be cold, and bun- 
dled up in anticipation ; now as you go on your perspiring 
way you begin to take things off and drop them by the way- 
side. The snow is soft, perhaps, and the shoes sink eight 
or ten inches ; it is obvious that each step forward is only 
to be accomplished by lifting the shoe out of the hole it has 
made — at least it is obvious after you have forgotten 
to do it once — and you begin to wonder what causes that 
peculiar feeling along the front of your thighs. Then you 
climb a few hills and your tendon of Achilles begins to sit 
up and take notice. After a while you go home. You are 
good and tired of course, and you are hungry — you bet you 
are hungry ! 

192 



SNOW-SHOE PICNICKING 193 

The next time you go out in the evening, perhaps. There 
is a full moon and the winter woods are a fairyland, whose 
inhabitants are sparkling with diamonds. When you re- 
turn this time, you are just as hungry, but less tired. One 
day you start on a snow-shoe picnic. 

The word " picnic " calls to mind pine groves and babbling 
brooks with the thermometer dodging around eighty degrees 
in the shade ; that one may be comfortable and contented 
on a winter picnic is not generally known. 

You drive into the country five or ten or twenty miles 
to an old inn — an old inn where they are always expecting 
such parties, if you know where that is. There you make 
arrangements for a five o'clock dinner and then sally forth. 
You strap on the snow-shoes, pick up the coffee-pail, the 
tin cups, the packages of sandwiches and bacon, and "hike" 
for the woods. 

The fun begins at the first fence ; snow drifts on to stone- 
wall and one may gracefully glide up and soar over it ; on 
the top rail of a " snake" fence one can lie at full length and, 
so to say, "wave" one's snow-shoes over gracefully — or 
otherwise ; but snow blows through barbed wire, and a 
fence of this type is a highly entertaining proposition for 
snow-shoes. Some of the party lie down and wriggle 
through. You think you can climb it ; you get to the top 
and sit on a post and there you are ! The tails of your 
shoes hang straight down; if you jump you break them.. 
You are not even sure that you can fall and do it gracefully ; 
but assistance is always at hand. 

Numerous camping places begin to present themselves. 
In turn each one of the party, after a fall, promptly decides 
that this is the spot, setting forth the claim that they have 



194 WINTER SPORTS 

already begun to clear away the snow. You place them 
properly on their feet again. They dig the snow out of 
their eyes and begin to see differently, so you go farther 
into the woods. After a while you find a sheltered spot, 
and it is unanimously voted that you eat right there and 
then. 

You slip off the snow-shoes, and using them as shovels, 
scrape away the snow down to the ground. In the centre 
of the cleared space — eight or ten feet in diameter it should 
be — you build your fire and melt some snow for the coffee. 

The snow on the windward side of the little clearing is 
carefully packed and lined with fir boughs. Now you sit 
around and eat things ; no one waits for the coffee to boil 
— not much ! When the last crumbs are eaten and the 
coffee-pail emptied, you smoke and have a talky-talk. 

By and by you slip on the shoes and file away through 
the woods. A sharp climb brings you to the top of things, 
where the united party stops to catch its breath. Then 
you hunt for a slide. All you need is a hill that is steep 
enough ; you will not have a bit of trouble, the steeper it 
is, the more quickly you arrive at the bottom. The first 
one down the hill breaks a trail — makes the slide. You 
place one foot before the other and sit upon the tail of the 
rear shoe, which rests upon the tail of the forward shoe. 
By simply turning the foremost racquet to the right or left 
you easily dodge the rocks and trees. If you are not par- 
ticular as to where and how you land, you might stand up 
and slide. An old-fashioned toss into four feet of snow is 
no joke, however ; you either have to turn to and dig your- 
self out or accept the kind assistance of a friend who may 
also be in need. 



SNOW-SHOE PICNICKING 195 

Now the fading day turns you back to the inn. While 
you wait for dinner, you go up in the dance-hall — an old 
country dance-hall it is — and waltz in your moccasins. 
The dinner 1 Piping hot oyster-stew, chicken-pie, baked — 
but what 's the use ! Afterward you draw up in front of the 
blazing fire and smoke and tell your best stories. And last 
of all — whisper ! — the ride home in the moonlight behind 
the flying horses, with the right girl next, is just about the 
right kind of a finish. _ L _ D _ Sherman _ 



THE ACTIVITIES OF A SNOW-SHOE CLUB 

There is no lack of opportunity if a Snow-shoe Club 
desires to become a factor in the wider social life of its 
community during the winter months. Its weekly or fort- 
nightly tramps may rendezvous where guests can be in- 
vited to hear the tale of the day's tumbles or achievements. 
Special excursions, such as the ascent of a neighboring 
mountain at an unusual season, should enrich the club 
quarters with large-scale maps usefully annotated. A long- 
distance race, or cross-country steeplechase, held annually, 
with the finish in some central spot, can create a deal of 
local interest and may help in the establishment of a chain 
of small organizations ready to join in friendly compe- 
titions. 

Assuming that six small organizations exist within meet- 
ing distance of each other in such a capital snow-shoeing 
country as northern New York, for example, it should be 
possible to secure subscriptions for a trophy to be competed 
for by bona fide members, in a series of contests ; interest 
may be heightened if one race for the trophy be run at the 
annual festival of each club represented, and a final race 
between the winners at a joint carnival. There is whole- 
some festivity in making the objective point of a club run 
the meet where the club racing team deserves encourage- 
ment; and the contrasting colors of the clubs, mingling 
196 



THE ACTIVITIES OF A SNOW-SHOE CLUB 197 

with the more sober gayety of the costumes of their sym- 
pathizers, will present a picture likely to be distinct among 
the winter's social " events." 

The ordinary track races: 100 yards, 120 yards, hurdle 
races at the same distances, 220-yard runs, 440-yard runs, 
the half-mile, or runs of longer distances — from one to 
five miles — are scarcely so full of genuine entertainment 
as the less formal sports in which a certain amount of luck 
puts the contestants on an equality. A resourceful com- 
mittee will need no suggestion ; but at least once in a winter 
a night run should be held, for there is no finer sight than a 
slope alive with snow-shoers, when the snow is sparkling 
like diamonds in the frosty moonlight, or when yellow, smok- 
ing torches in long procession wind in and out between the 
trees, with now and then one going suddenly into eclipse, 
as its bearer, soaring over a fence, catches a shoe point, and 
makes a dive instead of a gracefully gliding landing. A re- 
lay torch race will always set your elder guests to misquot- 
ing Greek ; an obstacle race ; a chase for a torch hung in 
the centre of a ring, in which the contestants start from the 
circumference of the circle at the same time, will raise a 
shout of laughter. In the last-named contest the winner 
must not only secure the torch, but carry it alight to his 
starting-point, and it will take some speed to escape with 
it without a collision. 

At one side there will have been, of course, a roaring fire ; 
and by the time the contests are over the great logs should 
be in condition for making ready the hot coffee and broiled 
bacon which may be served as an appetizer before the club 
and its guests return to the quarters, where a more formal 
entertainment may have been arranged. Weather suitable 



i 9 8 WINTER SPORTS 

for snow-shoeing is hardly in keeping with an elaborate 
meal in the open, but deliciously browned bacon between 
slices of thin-cut brown bread and coffee piping hot can be 
quickly served and will be accepted with enthusiasm. Take 
a slender rod some eight feet long and on each side of the tip, 
about an inch from the end, insert a small, stout screw-eye; 
four or five inches farther from the end insert another pair ; 
with a bit of stiff wire about eighteen inches long run a 
loop from the lower screw-eye on one side through the one 
nearer the tip, out beyond the end of the rod and back 
through the other pair ; leave one end of the wire free to 
be pulled out. With such a contrivance one can thread 
upon the wire a number of slices of bacon and broil them 
over a bed of coals, making a dish for a king — or a guest of 
honor. _j c D 



STORMING THE ICE FORT 

For this its winter carnival Quebec had erected many 
ice structures, but the ice fort, most imposing of them all, 
— Fort de Glace, the gay, — was constructed upon the 
fortification wall near the Norman turrets of St. Louis 
gate and at the base of Parliament Hill. It was a well- 
chosen spot. On one side was the Esplanade Park; on 
the other the open area of Parliament Hill; St. Louis 
Street was below, Grand Allee above the gateway, while 
the gray wall wound between. The pretty ice fort, with 
its turrets and loopholes, shone a lustrous diamond mass 
at noonday — a starry radiance at night. . . . The peo- 
ple massed beneath. The windows of Parliament House 
were thronged with favored guests, and over all the search- 
lights played fitfully, picking out vividly for an instant 
some group of eager faces, then dropping them again into 
darkness. 

Down Citadel Road moved an army of torch-bearers, 
snow-shoers in gay costumes — soft white blankets, with 
borders of cinnamon and black ; blue with its border of 
white ; dark green with cream ; glowing crimson with re- 
lief of white ; and (not the least artistic) furry black blankets 
bordered with gold, — these were but a few of the varieties 
, that made Quebec's gray and white streets a riot of gay 
colors under the torchlights of Carnival week. 
199 



200 WINTER SPORTS 

The more soberly clad militia in winter accoutrements 
first climbed the battlements to man them for defence. 
A rocket whizzed its way into the dark sky and the battle 
was on. Rockets and Roman candles shot upward to break 
in a thousand balls above the fort; fiery snakes twisted 
their way through the night, tossing a spray of sparks over 
the turrets. Shells burst and mortars boomed; the fort 
was under heavy fire and roused to its defence, changing 
its gleaming whiteness to crimson and then to emerald- 
green. It glowed like a mass of exquisite opal, fiery 
hearted. Bombs broke forth; yellow fires flashed out; 
fierce red globes fell from the loopholes. Thunder and 
flash ; a play of twisting whizzing light ; a storm of incan- 
descence ; a carnival of light ; it was indescribably beau- 
tiful. . . . 

But suddenly the crimson glow began to pale. The 
heart of the ice fort was growing faint, the bombs ceased, 
the rockets dropped, fainter and fainter faded the opal 
glow until the ice fort stood dull and dim in the night — 
a defeated thing. 

Then with songs and cheering, and flaring torches, the 

gay besiegers mounted the battlements with a dashing 

charge. And in their possession it was alight again — 

not with the passionate opal glow, but with a cool electric 

radiance. They sent the Union Jack fluttering to the top 

to wave in the dark night air to the rhythm of a patriotic 

hymn from thousands of voices, and with a last ringing 

cheer the play was over. ^ -^ 

r J — Faith Fenton. 

From Canadian Magazine. 



"THE OLD TUQUE BLEUE" 

Hurrah ! for frosty winter nights — the old moon shining 

clear ; 
Our Club meets at the rendezvous with hearty shout and 

cheer. 
We ask no better kind of fun than on the swift snow-shoe, 
With chaps who never shirk a tramp, who wear the bright 

" tuque bleue." 

Chorus 

Lightly dipping, tripping, o'er the snow 

This Club in Indian file tramps over many a mile. 

Lightly dipping, tripping, o'er the snow, 

Hurrah ! for the wearing of the bright " tuque bleue." 

The frost is keen, and cold the wind, the drifts are grand 

and high, 
'T is just the time for veterans their sturdiness to try ; 
In Indian file we tramp along, no matter what may brew, 
We love the blustering storm that beats upon our bright 

" tuque bleue." 

Oh, you who wish to lead a life exempt from every woe ! 
Just step into a pair of shoes and tramp it o'er the snow ; 
There is nothing like a ten-mile tramp your vigor to renew, 
So don't back out, but come along and wear the old "tuque 
bleue." 



202 WINTER SPORTS 

For thirty years our Club has lived and earned a noble 

name — 
On cups and medals, not a few, you'll find engraved its 

fame; 
When limbs are stiffened by old Time, we'll keep the Club 

in view 
By training up our olive leaves to wear the bright "tuque 

bleue " -W. G. Beers. 

By permission. 

" The Old Tuque Bleue," written by Dr. W. G. Beers, and first 
sung by W. H. Whyte in 1873, is familiar to nearly every winter 
visitor to Montreal, certainly to every one who during the eighties 
witnessed the winter carnivals in which the Montreal Snow-shoe Club 
took so active a part. The Club is renowned the world over ; on the 
occasion of the last carnival it was able to muster over six hundred 
members in its torchlight procession, and its march to the swinging 
measure of " The Old Tuque Bleue " was one of the main features of 
the attack upon the ice palace. 



SKIING 

"THE WOODEN WINGS OF NORWAY" 

According to Scandinavian ideas, the time to learn the 
use of the ski is at the age of three or very soon thereafter. 
At that age the little ones in Finland are measured for their 
first pair ; and at intervals as they grow the ceremony — 
being measured for one's first ski is as ceremonial an occa- 
sion as inducing the last new baby to take his first step — 
remains the same. One stands erect, with the arms 
stretched above the head, full length, bends his fingers at 
the second knuckle, and selects the ski which will just pass 
under the finger tips when it is held upright with one end 
resting on the ground. Beginners will probably find that 
a slightly shorter pair is at first more easily managed. 

In the northern countries, where travelling on ski is as 
natural as walking, children are put on them almost as soon 
as they can run about alone; and so soon as they have 
learned to stand on the ski with one foot in advance, the 
knees bent, and the body thrust forward, they are started 
off. They tumble, of course, but look on it as a game in 
which they are eager to equal the skill of their older brothers 
and sisters whose swift darting movements over the crust 
remind one of a flock of swallows. 

If the toboggan and the ski had originated in the same 
country, one would surely have admired the ingenuity of 
203 



204 WINTER SPORTS 

the Cree or Micmac Indian who first split his toboggan 
lengthwise and coasted with half on each foot; but un- 
fortunately for this theory of origins, the ski have never 
been generally adopted in America for the purpose of getting 
about the country in spite of Canadian snow-drifts ; and 
the toboggan, when introduced at some of the continental 
winter resorts, failed to win any wide use. 

In essentials, the ski is a long narrow strip of straight- 
grained wood; hickory is very often used, owing to the 
difficulty of securing suitable ash wood, which is still with 
many the favorite material. The thickness is an inch or 
less; if the wood be sufficiently tough the width, about four 
inches, and the length varying according to the height and 
choice of the wearer. The end which extends back of the 
heel is square, the toe is curved, not too sharply, and at 
the tip is pointed. The wearer stands at the centre, where 
straps attach it securely to his boot. An accomplished 
Norwegian may run about by simply inserting his toe under 
a strap as if the ski were a heelless bath-slipper, but most 
runners, if they tried to use the loose ski, would sooner or 
later see them vanish on an icy crust, — and slide or wallow 
homeward unaided. 

The simplest form of foot-fastening is a plain cleat at- 
tached to the upper side of the ski by strong screws, the 
heads of which are deeply countersunk in the bottom face 
of the ski. Under its front and back points straps bind 
across the toes and the instep. Its disadvantage is the 
lack of horizontal elasticity which makes jumping difficult. 
More modern and greatly preferred by experts are the 
bindings with metal plates; in the best type the plate is 
cut by a pattern of the boot on which it will be worn, be- 



"THE WOODEN WINGS OF NORWAY" 205 

fore it is fastened to the ski. Norwegian boots are often 
recommended to the ski-runner, but usually a strong, well- 
fitting pair of such boots as he is accustomed to wear will 
prove more serviceable. They must not fit too tightly; 
room for an additional pair of socks without restricting the 
circulation is very desirable ; but they must be strongly 
blocked at the toe to lend firmness to the binding. Long 
knitted stockings rolled back so as to keep the snow out of 
the boots, with knickerbockers of a smooth-surfaced cloth 
to which the snow will not cling, give the wearer a comfort- 
able costume. Mr. E. Wroughton advises the use of the 
cloth from which riding-breeches are ordinarily made. 

It will never be found safe to go on even a short tour with- 
out a kit-bag, or, as it is called all over Europe, a " ruck- 
sack," which should contain a light repair-kit such as bicy- 
clers carry: at least one metal tip to be clamped on the 
end of a broken ski in case of accident ; a set of climbing 
irons attachable to the ski before attempting to ascend an 
icy hill, and possibly a set of strong crampons if there is any 
likelihood of having to cross ice-fields on foot; a tube of 
wax and a cloth with which to rub it on the under surface 
of the ski ; matches, a candle, and one of those bent wires 
like a distorted safety-pin by which the candle can be fas- 
tened in some convenient place, leaving the hands free to 
hold a map or do repair- work. The list might be made 
much longer, but it is not wise to forget the hour when a 
tired man feels the weight of every ounce he carries. By 
the way, these conveniences should always be carried in a 
bag of canvas that is closed at the mouth with a draw string 
and can be carried on the shoulders by straps which leave 
the arms free play. A knapsack may give a more trim air 



206 WINTER SPORTS 

to the wearer, but he will find no pleasure in undoing but- 
tons or buckles with ringers numb with cold. 

The question of whether the ski should be grooved on the 
under surface or entirely smooth is often disputed ; for or- 
dinary straight running grooves are said to be desirable as 
giving stability in the chosen direction ; on the other hand, 
if the runner desires to practise fancy curves, swift turns, 
and similar manoeuvres the groove is more of a hindrance 
than a help. 

Finally comes the choice of a pole or sticks. Some 
runners urge that the beginner should use neither, claiming 
that without anything of the kind one can more quickly 
learn that delicate balancing of the body by which the 
steering is done under most conditions. Of the two the 
pole came into use earlier ; it was used for balancing and 
also as a brake in making steep descents ; it was often as 
much as fifteen feet long and correspondingly heavy, so 
that in time the country lads of certain parts of Norway 
adopted instead a brace of shorter lighter sticks, and the 
fashion spread until the latter are almost universally used. 
In Canada and elsewhere beginners use a single stave, 
though lighter than of old, chiefly as a help in the difficult 
business of hill-climbing, turning the ski broadside to the 
slope, digging the pole into the snow, and clinging to it for 
support. The double sticks in more common use are of 
light bamboo, about five feet long, iron- tipped, with a 
wicker disk a little way above the tip to keep the stick from 
sinking so deeply into the snow as to pull it from the run- 
ner's hand. It is as well to add a leather wrist- thong near 
the other end, as the stick is frequently dropped in a fall 
and may slide to a considerable distance unless there is 
some such check, — J. CD. 



THE OLYMPIC GAMES OF THE NORTH 

The meet held every two years on Holmenkollen Hill, 
near Christiania, is an international affair, ably managed 
by the united ski clubs of Norway. To it every ski-loving 
country of the world sends its most expert jumpers and dis- 
tance runners. A royal box is always provided, and usually 
some member of the royal family of Norway occupies it, 
for the king himself has been an enthusiastic skier. Regi- 
ments of the military, who have been trained in manoeuvres 
on ski, turn out in force, with color and noise, for the 
regimental bands have been brought along. 

Absolutely democratic is the sport, and the competition 
is open to any one who can qualify with the necessary skill. 
The prize is of scarcely more intrinsic value than the Greek's 
crown of laurel, but the peasant boy who has saved every 
possible crown for months in order to take the trip to the 
games prizes the simple medal, if he wins it, beyond the 
whole value of his father's farm. 

Competent judges decide the credit marks to be given 
each man on his showing in each of three non-consecutive 
jumping trials, taking into account not merely distance, 
but style and grace ; after the long run physical condition 
is also a factor, and on one occasion was the decisive factor, 
so close was the tie otherwise. 

— J. W. SCHREINER. 
207 



SKI-JUMPING IN THE HOLMENKOLLEN GAMES 

The mass of spectators closed in together in a horseshoe 
shape, the rounded part of which was formed at the base 
of the hill, leaving a sufficient space for the jumpers to 
manoeuvre about after they had finished their evolutions. 
The keener sportsmen stood at the ends of the shoe half- 
way up the hill, just inside the boundary set by the line of 
forest which had been left standing, and formed a pictur- 
esque background to the scene, Here at this end, a third 
of the way below the brow of the hill, which was out of 
sight, had been built up a bank of snow, about four feet in 
depth at its outer end, in which was embedded the Nor- 
wegian flag, emblematical of the endurance of the Nor- 
wegian race in the rigor of the cold. 

By the judge's box a flag is lowered, a mournful note is 
sounded somewhere out of sight, and whilst we are wonder- 
ing and raising our eyes upwards we espy a black speck rac- 
ing down the hill, and before we can quite take in what has 
happened the first jumper has reached the base of the hill. 
We are dullards and have to collect our thoughts more 
sharply. Another note is sounded, another black figure 
darts down ; we turn round ; he is in the air, and he too 
has reached the bottom. We have to be sharper still if 
we wish to watch the jumper throughout. First he slips 
over the brow of the hill, tears down the narrow incline 
208 




SKI-JUMPING. 



JUMPING IN THE HOLMENKOLLEN GAMES 209 

with feet well set, but knees bent and with eyes straining 
towards the bank from which he is to make his leap. There 
is silence, the breath of every one is checked, the jumper 
has reached the platform, he springs right forward, away 
into space, steadies himself in the mid air, still for the tenth 
of a second, then he drops like a hawk on to the slope of 
the hill beneath. Here comes the real test, for if he has 
done well, he will land so that his right foot is slightly in ad- 
vance of his left, but pointing straight in front with knees 
barely bent and his hands rigid at his side. Then he slips 
down as he holds himself erect into the flat open space be- 
neath, where he joins the little knot of those who have pre- 
ceded him and ready to congratulate him upon his neatness 
of style. A few hushed bravos are raised, but there is not 
once the volley of sound that would come from the gorges 
of Britons at any such gathering, and one is much surprised 
at the difference. 

For a time the equal skill that is shown by the competitors 
becomes monotonous, but there are one or two who have 
missed their footing or who are less efficient; some fun 
ensues, and the crowd makes merry thereat in a good-hu- 
mored way. No. 49 loses his balance in mid air, swings 
his arms as though he happened to be a flying windmill, 
and then, when he descends to terra firma again, he is seen 
no more. He falls, and in his place there arises a thick 
cloud of powdered snow which races down to the end of the 
hill, and there again reassumes the shape of a man little 
damaged but very crestfallen. Sometimes the points of 
the ski rise above the cloud of snow that he has raised in 
his tumble like bayonets fixed for a charge after a sharp 
fusillade. Sometimes again a dog rushes out to see where 



2io WINTER SPORTS 

the genius has disappeared, and causes quite a commotion 
as he stumbles in the snow after the victim. Generally on 
these occasions caps are left on the hills — sad testimony 
of the fall — and the jumper, so far from being able to beat 
a hasty retreat, is obliged to return ignominiously to re- 
ceive it again from the hands of one of the soldiers who 
picked it up and is busy with the rest of the squad told off 
for the purpose, to rake over the uneven surface where he 
has fallen. 

One incident which provoked unusual laughter was when 
a jumper fell in such a manner that his ski stuck in the 
snow and a policeman had to render to him "first aid," as he 
had driven them so far into the ground that he could not 
release himself. It seemed really marvellous that there 
were comparatively few accidents ; one or two men snapped 
their ski, but when men spring from such a height, one would 
expect that they at least ran the danger of breaking a leg 
or arm. As a matter of fact, this rarely happens, and may 
be partly accounted for by the fact that only men of known 
experience are allowed to join in the contest. 

I gained the following impressions from one who was an 
old hand at the feat. He remarked that as the jumper 
rushed down the hill he could see nothing beyond him ex- 
cept the edge of the snowbank from which he made his 
leap. The people that waited beneath to see him spring 
were out of sight. 

I was further informed that when the jumper had alighted 
from his fall through the air, he ought to lean back a little 
if the snow is soft ; but if it happened to be frozen, then it 
was necessary to incline forward, otherwise the feet would 
slip away, and a fall would be inevitable. At the same time 



JUMPING IN THE HOLMENKOLLEN GAMES 211 

the competitor should remain as nearly at the attention as 
possible, and the inclining forward was often overdone in 
the attempt not to tumble backwards. In conclusion, it 
was advisable to maintain an easy balance and to act with 
the speed and completeness of a kodak. 

When the last jumper had been allowed his second essay, 
the people showed signs of moving away, but some few 
stayed for a few moments, whilst others raced up to the 
top on their ski and came dancing down and leaping over 
the border by twos or by threes; a sight that was most 
effective, for in some cases the pairs would land and de- 
scend in splendid form ; in others all three parties would 
tumble pell mell, the laughing-stock of the onlookers. But 
even for them the enjoyment was short, for the soldiers, 
having received their instructions, at once brought up their 
shovels and destroyed the snowbanks from which the jumps 
had been made. This was a necessary order, otherwise 
youngsters without fear but inexperienced would have 
raced down without order in a howling scrimmage, which 
must have ended in a more or less serious accident. 

The rendezvous soon becomes deserted, and the newly 
erected platforms in between the forest of old pines look 
as if an army of locusts had swarmed in the clearing and 
eaten off all the bark. Indeed, as the crowd gathered down 
below with their ski high above their heads as they carried 
them, it seemed from above as if they were a crowd of 
insects with tremendous forceps. 

— M. Edmund Spencer. 

Two Winters in Norway, Longmans & Co. 



A SKI-LOBNER WHO BECAME FAMOUS 

At a place now called Majorstuen, not more than a 
" couple of miles out of Christiania, existed a school in which 
students learned their lessons and enjoyed their larks much 
as every other schoolboy loves to do all over the world. 
But there was one amongst them who was respected but 
not exactly a favorite, for he was of a retiring nature. He 
preferred to roam in search of adventure rather than risk 
the probable sequel of breaking a master's windows. He 
was bent in his own mind on training himself for the future, 
and he went about his recreation in a very serious way. 
When the winter again returned, he would fasten on his 
ski and be lost in the wood for the rest of the half-holiday, 
venturing along the narrow path that knitted itself be- 
tween the firs or else daring a jump in an open clearing that 
might have made an older person feel no coward at declin- 
ing the leap. 

During one of his winter roamings this lad saw two 
strange fellows enjoying themselves much in the same way 
as himself. But he could see at once that they were 
strangers, for they had a style peculiarly their own when 
racing down the hills. The schoolboy had been in the 
habit of carrying on his journeys a long wooden pole, some 
fifteen feet in length, which was a great tax upon him as he 
struggled up the hills. But this burden had to be endured 
because the pole was necessary to secure one's balance when 



A SKI-LOBNER WHO BECAME FAMOUS 213 

making the descent, and also for steering purposes in the 
same descent. But as he looked at the two lads madly rush- 
ing down the hill in front of him with merely a couple of 
short sticks in their hands he stood still, astonished. He 
watched them for some time carefully and then found 
reason for further surprise. In preparing for a snow jump 
he had always been in the habit of making a snowbank at 
the bottom of the hill, so that he would finish the descent, 
leap into the air, and then land on to the level. But these 
Telemarken peasants — for that was the livelihood of 
these two stray lads — had built up their bank of snow 
halfway down the slope, so that they had a good run, then 
a jump into the air, and a fall on the slope of the hill, again 
enabling them to continue their run. This added greatly 
to the interest of their rivalry, for it required more skill 
to come down on the slope and then to finish the run stand- 
ing at the bottom. On the other hand, although it may not 
look so on the face of it, it is undoubtedly the safer plan, 
for if the jumper fell, he would have more chance of break- 
ing his fall by sliding down the soft snowy bank instead of 
descending in a heavy mass on the level. . . . 

But on the occasion to which I refer the plan seemed to 
be so novel to the schoolboy that he raced home on his 
ski and hailed his brother, not telling him the cause of his 
excitement, but persuading him to follow him back to the 
point of interest. It is hardly needless to mention that 
the brother was almost as expert on ski as the elder, so 
that he would have as great an appreciation of the novelty 
as his guide. The two young peasants were still amusing 
themselves, all unconscious of the interest that they were 
causing, and doubtless considered later that it was rather 



214 WINTER SPORTS 

ridiculous that two schoolboys should manifest such keen- 
ness in their actions. But the Christiania boys were not 
to be discouraged; they made friends with the peasants, 
and when they went home, they persuaded their parents 
to pay the lads to teach them how they carried out their 
local plan. Doubtless the peasants were nothing loth, 
for they had merely come to the capital to take part in the 
great annual fair that is always held about the first or second 
week in February. 

As the town lads became greater experts they challenged 
the Telemarken farmers, but rarely competed against them 
successfully, although always in a friendly spirit. Annual 
contests were held, with one or two exceptions, and prizes 
were awarded, which for many years were consistently 
carried off by those from the country districts. This was 
but natural, seeing that there it is simply part of their 
daily occupation in' the winter months, for without ski 
they would never be able to get many steps beyond their 
own front door in the deep snow that covers the ground. 
But at last Christiania was in a state of festivity, for the 
Ladies' Prize was carried off by one of their own folk, and 
he was a schoolboy of old who had first drawn the attention 
of the Telemarken method to the others. It was worthy of 
the lad's perseverance, and of the man who afterwards 
tracked to the " Farthest North," for the boy happened to 
be none other than Dr. Nansen himself. His brother 
has gained an equal reputation in his own country as one 
of the soundest lawyers that the country at this time 
possesses. _ M Edmund Spencer. 

Two Winters in Norway, Longmans & Co. 



LONG-DISTANCE RUNS ON SKI 

The first and third days of the great annual "Hoprend" 
— or as the Norwegians proudly call it, the " Olympic 
Games of the North" — are devoted to long-distance runs, 
which are a compound of steeple chases, without horses, 
and obstacle races. For days, nay, weeks before, the news- 
papers vied with each other in prophesying the winners, and 
the health of the different competitors, their condition, style 
of running, etc., were discussed with the most embarrassing 
freedom. 

No prettier or more charming spot could be chosen for 
the long run than Frognersseter, situated high up among 
the fir trees. The rendezvous for the ski-lobners is one of 
the most delightfully situated restaurants it is possible to 
conceive. Built of brown timber in the ancient Viking 
style, with overhanging eaves, quaint dragons' heads, and 
all sorts of queer mythological animals stretching out 
gargoyle necks into the air, it made a wonderful background 
for the hundreds of sportsmen stacking up their ski and 
sticks on the heaped-up snow. 

At the back of the Sports Hall a small wooden barrier 
had been erected, forming a square space, with an opening 
at either end for the judges and starters. Behind this 
barrier the spectators took their places, forming two lines 
leading down into the wood. At first I thought I must 
215 



216 WINTER SPORTS 

have come to the wrong place, so little room was there left 
for competitors. All I could see was a narrow lane leading 
through the wood, down which it would be impossible for 
more than a couple of men to run side by side. Where, 
then, could they start more than a hundred competitors? 
However, I learned that they were started one by one. 
Several stout gentlemen came hurrying upon ski, and 
donning heavy fur coats and fin-sko (high boots made of 
reindeer skins stuffed with hay), they sat down at the two 
tables on either side of the enclosure, and after comparing 
watches commenced arranging the preliminaries of the race. 
A number of athletic young men with well-knit forms 
were congregated at the open end of the barrier. They 
wore no distinctive dress; simply a thick woollen jersey, 
short coat, and ordinary trousers tucked into ski-boots — ■ 
a particular kind of boot made of soft, thick reindeer 
leather, shaped to the foot and with a pliant sole. At the 
back is a small strap for securing the boot to the ski. As a 
name was called a man stepped forward, took of! his coat, 
received a large placard with a printed number, which he 
affixed to his chest, and then took up his position inside the 
barrier. While he was waiting for the signal to go, he kept 
his coat hanging loosely round his shoulders and his cap 
on his head, and planted his sticks firmly in the snow ready 
to push off at a second's notice. The judges called out, 
"Get ready!" a friendly policeman snatched away the 
coat and hat, and then almost with the same breath came 
the word, "Go!" and before the word was completely 
finished he was out of sight. A friend waved his cap, the 
few Britishers present raised a cheer, and then the next 
competitor stood forth. Each man seemed to have his 



LONG-DISTANCE RUNS ON SKI 217 

own manner of starting. Some stamp the snow hard to 
get a good grip of the surface, and with one ski in front 
of the other slide gracefully down the slope. Others start 
with a series of short hops like a rabbit lopping over high 
grass, and then, getting into the swing after a few yards, 
go off at a magnificent speed with scarcely any perceptible 
movement of the body. Another man will stand with his 
back bowed almost level to the ground, with his eyes fixed 
before him, and as the signal is given will bound straight 
up into the air and then, swaying from side to side, with a 
few powerful thrusts of his two sticks will race off at light- 
ning speed. 

The long run is over twelve English miles of the most 
difficult country that can be found, up hill and down dale, 
over fences and across ditches, and where the going is good, 
artificial obstacles have been erected to make it more for- 
midable. The path — if a track a foot or so across can 
be called a path — becomes narrower and narrower, lead- 
ing through forests where the trees are so close together 
as to leave scarcely an inch of space between the flying 
ski ; sharp corners have to be negotiated, where a too sud- 
den turn would snap the ski into splinters; mounds that 
are nothing but slippery ice have to be jumped ; steep ra- 
vines with all sorts of pitfalls in the shape of hidden bould- 
ers have to be rushed; narrow ledges, where scarcely a 
goat can find foothold, must be crept over ; danger, nay, 
sometimes death itself — has to be encountered at every 
step. It is a marvellous performance of pluck and daring. 
Up and down, guided by the pieces of red stuff on trees or 
overhanging rocks, or by the warning voices of non-com- 
peting members of the clubs, stationed at different parts of 



218 WINTER SPORTS 

the road ; on, on the ski-lobner goes, perspiration pouring in 
streams from his face, with eyes blinded by the dazzling 
whiteness of the snow, nerves strained almost to breaking 
point, his breath coming in great gasps, his breast working 
convulsively, until one can almost see his heart throbbing. 
Sometimes he falls, as the points of his ski catch on a jagged 
rock, but he is up on his feet in an instant, for a second lost 
now can never be retrieved. The blood from many a cut 
and bruise streams down his ghastly white face, but still 
on he goes until there comes the last mad rush down the 
mountain and up through the woods, and the wooden barri- 
cade is again in sight. 

The competitors are expected back just before midday, 
and the finish is even more exciting than the start, for the 
first-comer is not necessarily the winner, as the time of his 
starting has to be reckoned with. First a faint cheer can 
be heard in the far-off distance, and scouts on ski come 
hurrying up from the outposts to announce the proximity 
of the competitors. Everybody lines up and watches the 
men coming up the slope, putting on a spurt for the last 
few yards. Some are in a very exhausted condition and can 
scarcely drag their feet along, but the majority, though 
very pale, seem none the worse for the run. 

No accidents occurred during the run I witnessed ex- 
cept that a number of men broke their ski. This is not 
always the case, however, as sometimes limbs have been 
broken, or men have frozen to death through sinking 

exhausted into the snow. tut*^*™ „™ t tv^t-^ 

— Madame von Thiele. 

By permission of Forest and Stream. 



OLD WAYS AND NEW 

On the ski question the bonde (peasant) certainly scores 
over his town cousin, for he it was who not only was the 
first to adopt them, and fit them, in a modified form (the 
circular tryger), to the hoofs of his horse, but he taught 
the bymand (townsman) if not the world (as we see it in the 
Swiss chaussees), their possibilities. The wonder is that 
they have not been adopted long ago in other alpine coun- 
tries. As a child the delights of ski-running are among 
my very earliest memories. In those days, however, a 
bonde would never have dreamt of fastening the ski to his 
feet, as is now the general fashion ; for he had got the no- 
tion into his head that it would result in a broken leg, or 
a twisted knee or ankle-joint, should he fall in one of his 
ferocious mountain descents; and when it is remembered 
that he showed as little hesitation then, as now, in nego- 
tiating a hop, or an almost vertical rend, it testifies greatly 
to his undoubted intrepidity. It had its disadvantages, 
this loose ski system, in many ways, as when, for instance, 
in the event of a fall high up on a steep wooded slope, a 
runaway pair of ski came flying down at express speed, 
among unsuspecting wayfarers below; or when, on days 
of varying temperature, the fotos, or foot-loops — often of 
wicker — were constantly getting caked up with frozen 
snow. In those days the prize ski-rends of the bonde, with 
219 



220 WINTER SPORTS 

their hops, were very much as they are now ; but the man- 
ner of descent, and the accoutrements of the ski-runner, were 
different. The double ski stav (stave), an innovation of 
the towns, was then unknown, and a single one was con- 
sidered to be quite sufficient for brake purposes. The legs 
were also held very widely apart, in order to maintain what 
was then erroneously considered to be a proper equilibrium, 
And then, in a crouching position, with his red stocking- 
cap (now, alas ! of the past) drawn down over his ears, the 
young bonde would glide over the lip" of a precipitous hill, 
to sving triumphantly past the applauding spectators on 
the plateau below : or disappear under the hop in clouds of 
snow, out of which a pair of runaway ski, like Hghtning, 
darted most threateningly. But apart from these prize 
hop rends, the practised bonde ski-runner very rarely falls. 
Born and bred^ as it were, on ski, the latter are to him what 
the horse is to the nomad, and I have never seen a gaucho, 
or a Pampas Indian, fall otherwise than on his feet. 

When the Telemarken lads eventually came to town, and 
showed the astonished bymand what might be accomplished 
on a pair of ski, the latter fell to thinking furiously, with 
the results that the bymand is now not only as good as, if 
not better than, his bonde master, so far as the ski is con- 
cerned, but Norwegian ski-resorts, with their ski-running 
contests, are (vide tourist bureaux itineraries) to be found all 
over the country. But if you wish to see the bonde in his 
native ski element, and desire to study the uses of the ski 
in the everyday home life of himself and his womenkind, 
then you must take the steamer from Skien, in Telemarken, 
to Kirkebo — a half-day's trip, if ice admits — and sleigh 
up the steeps of Brunkeberg until, in the course of a couple 



OLD WAYS AND NEW 221 

of hours, you reach the little mountain hamlet of Mor- 
gedal. 

Strenuous efforts are being made in Norway to divert 
the stream of foreign ski-lovers, and especially Britishers, 
from Switzerland to Norwegian winter resorts. It is ad- 
vanced that there are practically two ski seasons in Nor- 
way: the ordinary winter season of the lowland resorts, 
and the late spring and summer season of the fjeld hospices, 
such as Finse, on the mountain-railway connecting Bergen 
with Christiania, where ski-running may be enjoyed as late 
as July. This advantage is certainly being recognized by 
our ski-runners, who singly, or in personally conducted 
batches, have been increasingly in evidence at these re- 
sorts during the last few seasons. But if this venture 
is to be pursued on the same scale as in Switzerland, then 
Swiss methods must also be adopted. The present hotel 
accommodation, ample just now, would have to be very 
much extended; public moneys must be forthcoming for 
the acquisition and upkeep of the necessary ski-running, 
bob-sleighing, and skating terrenes; and the said terrenes 
must be set apart for the exclusive use of the visitor, na- 
tive or foreign. That the first and even the second pro- 
vision may be possible of attainment there ought to be 
little doubt ; but that the bonde, with his peculiar ideas of 
meum and tuum, and his sense of absolute social equality, 
will assent to the third sine qua non,. I have my own very 
decided opinion. And it must be remembered that the 
bonde, as voter and legislator in these matters, is at present 
a power in the land. _ R K _ DanielS- 



A PRACTICAL LESSON IN SKI-RUNNING 

You are ready? Then stride out first with one foot, 
then with the other, keeping the ski parallel and always 
touching the snow. Absurdly easy, is it not? This is 
the ski in its utility — you shall presently become ac- 
quainted with it as a toy — for you can see after a dozen 
steps how valuable it must be to people living in the region's 
of unbroken winter snows. How long would you be cross- 
ing such a snow-field as this one afoot? You would be 
sinking in over your knees at every step, and a whole day 
of this tiring work would not take you far; but with ski 
you would find the snow rather a help than a hindrance, 
and could go farther than afoot over hard ground. Tales 
come to us indeed from the North of skiers attaining a 
speed of twenty miles an hour over level snow, but such 
a performance must require a special condition of snow or 
of ski or of skiers that is unknown at Grindelwald. 

Now you will please to follow me up the side of this last 
little hill ; first diagonally to the left, you see, so as not to 
slip backward to the bottom. You must learn by experi- 
ment at how great an angle your ski are capable of climbing, 
for this is a quantity varying both with the ski themselves 
and with the condition of the snow. Hold your pole on 
the uphill side and use it just like an alpenstock. Here 
I shall turn to start up on the other tack. Will you watch 



A PRACTICAL LESSON IN SKI-RUNNING 223 

me, please? Pole held fixed in the snow behind, where 
it is out of the way ; right foot — always the uppermost 
foot first — well up and round to the right and planted 
again so that the two ski are parallel but pointing in oppo- 
site directions; left foot, then, well up and round to the 
right and planted again beside the right and in its normal 
position; this is all. I change the pole to my left hand 
and start off in the other direction, while you are executing 
the same manoeuvre after me. 

But you are having trouble with it ? Most people do at 
first. It was bad enough bringing your first foot round, 
but now that you have got it in the proper position you 
are utterly unable to move either hand or foot without 
falling? Well, I think if you will take time to find your 
balance and then raise your left foot high enough, you will 
be speedily out of your difficulties. There, you see you are 
in good marching trim at once, and can follow me over 
to this place, where another turn will put us in the last 
short stretch to the top. This time it is your left foot 
first, and remember every inch of your ski. 

It is hardly amusing, this skiing upward in monotonous 
zigzags, but you will often have a great deal of it to do if 
you wish to find the best runs down. Besides, you have 
already learned from the summer what the winter will be 
teaching you over again — that with fine weather in the 
High Alps much of the uphill work which was at first so 
laborious gradually loses all its terrors. Habit and ever- 
hardening muscles soon combine to set for you a regular 
pace, calling for so little thought or effort as to leave you 
quite free for the enjoyment of every new point of view. 

But we have come at last to the beginning of the end, 



224 WINTER SPORTS 

which means that, having already learned the use of ski 
where none of the more usual modes of progression is 
available, I will now try to show them to you as the vehicle 
to be preferred above all others. In theory this is the 
easiest thing in the world ; in practice you shall judge of it 
for yourself. 
\ Before we begin, though, I wish to say a word of encour- 
agement and a word of apology. In the first place, make 
up your mind that it is impossible to look ridiculous on ski. 
To tumble in a confused heap with arms, legs, and ski all 
tied up together ; to untangle yourself with great difficulty 
and find that you are plastered with snow from head to 
foot : this is the orthodoxy of beginning — nay, it is the 
sine qua non, and people do not laugh at it. But, on the 
other hand, do not at any time fancy that you could have 
come up here without me or some other and learned to ski 
according to your own ideas. Skiing is not like tennis or 
cricket, in which you can bat about on original fines with 
fair success. Skiing is more like golf : in learning it you 
must submit to instructions and not mind being talked 
down to by your inferiors. It is by no means a difficult 
art, but there is only one way to begin, and that is, by 
rule. If you began by yourself, you would only waste much 
time in proving the fallacy of many theories ; and by the 
time you came round to the rule your patience would have 
been more tried than by anything I can say to you. Now 
I hope we are both ready. 

If you will look while I glissade this first slope, there will 
be only these few things for you to notice and remember : 
first, that I am keeping the ski always parallel, near to- 
gether, and even with one another, and my body as erect 



A PRACTICAL LESSON IN SKI-RUNNING 225 

as possible in the upper part, but slightly bent at the hips 
and knees ; second, that I am holding the pole behind me at 
one side ready to be used as a brake at any moment ; third, 
that to stop I shall turn either to the left or to the right, 
bringing the ski across the line of descent. 

Will you please follow, keeping near my tracks but not 
in them? 

Ah, but I fear you were not even trying to stand up 
straight : you fell before you were fairly started, as if you 
were disliking the idea of a fall later when you would be 
going faster. There is absolutely no danger here : you may 
fall as much as you please in snow like this without ever 
hurting yourself. Now you are on your feet again. 

But your ski start before you are ready ? Then you may 
begin with skiing obliquely across the slope, very slowly, 
at an easy angle, pole on the uppermost side. 

No, the balls of snow on your heels have much less to do 
with it than you think. By all means knock them off if 
you like : they do no good there ; but to keep your heels 
from slipping off your ski you must stand squarely on your 
ski : that is the main thing to remember. 

Was this last a crusty bit that threw you? When you 
come to such places, you must hold your legs very firm and 
use the pole to counteract the changes in speed. Also 
when you come to a little hillock in any kind of snow, lean 
backward slightly and bend your knees more than before, 
to avoid taking a header. 

Yes, you are indeed in a tangle. No way of getting on 
your feet again ? I will come up this time and get you and 
your ski extricated from each other, but this sort of thing 
often happens, and with a little patience and a little study 

Q 



226 WINTER SPORTS 

you can always get free. There, you had no need of help 
after all. 

Not making much progress ? Five falls, you say, and not 
yet halfway down this beastly little hill. Well, it is hardly 
like the performance of the man we saw by the hotel, is it ? 
Nevertheless, all this was to be expected, and our man by the 
hotel had doubtless the same painful ordeal at the beginning. 

Now, when you are ready — no, you are surely not tired, 
a man who has climbed every high mountain in sight ! — 
will you follow me down the rest of this slope, in the steepest 
place? "II faut de l'audace": the whole secret of it is 
there; "et encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace." 

That was much better, and you can charge the tumble 
to me; for, having forgotten to tell you how to guide, I 
could hardly expect you to get out of the way of so mag- 
netic an object as an isolated tree. Besides, you have just 
now laid the basis for a reflection that will be of comfort in 
the future, even though unorthodox ; which is that in case 
of sudden danger ahead you can always avoid running into 
it by falling. But this is rather a moral tonic than an expe- 
dient of any practical necessity. You ought always to ac- 
complish the same result with greater dignity either by going 
round the obstacle or, if that is impossible, by turning so as 
to come to a stop. A change of direction is effected by a 
change of balance accompanied at the same time by a slight 
turning of the feet so as to bring the edges of the ski into 
the snow on the side toward which they are to be directed. 
You may practise it on this gentle slope, where you will not 
find it at all difficult. When you are going very fast, you 
will need the pole to help. 

There is yet another way of stopping. That is to say, 



A PRACTICAL LESSON IN SKI-RUNNING 227 

men pretend to have seen Dr. Nansen come skiing poleless 
and at full speed over a glacier and stop short on the brink of 
a crevasse by pressing his knees inward so as to press outward 
against the snow with the soles of his ski. For my part, I 
am willing to wait, and begin cultivating this accomplish- 
ment when I have something more than hearsay for a guide. 

But you are doing exceedingly well ; and you are begin- 
ning to enjoy it. Yes, that was also to be expected. All 
you need is practice and experience of snow in different 
conditions, which will often nevertheless be discouraging 
for the moment. You will rarely find it so favorable as 
this, but you will gradually learn to recognize these dif- 
ferences at first sight and to accommodate yourself to them. 
Come now, and we will take this last long run, then through 
the gate on the right and down to the road. 

Glorious, was it not ? 

What is it you say ? Skiing must have been what ? 

Oh, invented by an inspired poet. Well, you have in- 
deed got on. I have nothing more to say. 

— Daniel P. Rhodes. 

From A Pleasure Book of the Grindelwald. 



CROSSING AN ALPINE PASS ON SKI 

There is nothing peculiarly malignant in the appearance 
of a pair of ski. They are two slips of elm wood, eight feet 
long, four inches broad, with a square heel, turned-up toes, 
and straps in the centre to secure your feet. No one, to 
look at them, would guess at the possibilities which lurk 
in them. But you put them on and you turn with a smile 
to see whether your friends are looking at you, and then 
the next moment you are boring your head madly into a 
snowbank, and kicking frantically with both feet, and 
half -rising, only to butt viciously into that snowbank again, 
and your friends are getting more entertainment than they 
had ever thought you capable of giving. 

That is when you are beginning. You naturally expect 
trouble then, and you are not likely to be disappointed. 
But as you get on a little, the thing becomes more irritating. 
The ski are the most capricious things upon the earth. 
One day you cannot go wrong with them ; on another with 
the same weather and the same snow you cannot go right. 
And it is when you least expect it that things begin to hap- 
pen. You stand on the crown of a slope, and you adjust 
your body for a rapid slide ; but your ski stick motionless, 
and over you go on your face. Or you stand upon a plateau 
which seems to you to be as level as a billiard table, and in 
an instant, without cause or warning, away they shoot, 
228 



CROSSING AN ALPINE PASS ON SKI 229 

and you are left behind, staring at the sky. For a man who 
suffers from too much dignity, a course of Norwegian snow- 
shoes would have a fine moral effect. 

Whenever you brace yourself for a fall, it never comes 
off. Whenever you think yourself absolutely secure, it is all 
over with you. You come to a hard ice slope at an angle of 
seventy-five degrees, and you zigzag up it, digging the side 
of your ski into it, and feeling that if a mosquito settles 
upon you, you are gone. But nothing ever happens and 
you reach the top in safety. Then you stop upon the 
level to congratulate your companion, and you have just 
time to say, "What a lovely view is this !" when you find 
yourself standing upon two shoulder-blades, with your ski 
tied tightly around your neck. Or again, you may have 
had a long outing without any misfortune at all, and as you 
shuffle back along the road, you stop for an instant to tell 
a group in the hotel veranda how well you are getting on. 
Something happens — and they suddenly find that their 
congratulations are addressed to the soles of your ski. 
Then if your mouth is not full of snow, you find yourself 
muttering the names of a few Swiss villages to relieve your 
feelings. "Ragatz" is a very handy word and may save 
a scandal. 

But all this is in the early stage of skiing. You have to 
shuffle along the level, to zigzag, or move crab fashion, up 
the hills, to slide down without losing your balance, and 
above all to turn with facility. The first time you try to 
turn, your friends think it is part of your fun. The great 
ski flapping in the air has the queerest appearance — like 
an exaggerated nigger dance. But this sudden whisk 
round is really the most necessary of accomplishments ; for 



2 3 o WINTER SPORTS 

only so can one turn upon the mountain side without slip- 
ping down. It must be done without presenting one's 
heels to the slope, and this is the only way. . . . 

The fact is it is easier to climb an ordinary peak, or to 
make a journey over the higher passes, in winter than in 
summer, if the weather is only set fair. In summer, you 
have to climb down as well as to climb up, and the one is as 
tiring as the other. In winter your trouble is halved, as 
most of your descent is a mere slide. If the snow is toler- 
ably firm, it is much easier also to zigzag up it on ski than 
to clamber over boulders. . . . Our project was to make 
our way from Davos to Arosa, over the Furka Pass, which 
is over nine thousand feet high. . . . 

We were up before four in the morning, and had started 
at half past for the village of Frauenkirch, where we were 
to commence our ascent. A great pale moon was shining 
in a violet sky, with such stars as can only be seen in the 
tropics or the higher Alps. At quarter past five we turned 
from the road, and began to plod up the hillsides, over 
alternate banks of last year's grass, and slopes of snow. 
We carried our ski over our shoulders, and our ski-boots 
slung round our necks, for it was good walking where the 
snow was hard, and it was sure to be hard wherever the 
sun had struck it during the day. Here and there, in a 
hollow, we floundered into and out of a soft drift up to our 
waists ; but on the whole it was easy going, and as much of 
our way led through fir woods, it would have been difficult 
to ski. About half -past six, after a long steady grind, we 
emerged from the woods, and shortly afterwards passed 
a wooden cow-house, which was the last sign of man which 
we were to see until we reached Arosa. 



CROSSING AN ALPINE PASS ON SKI 231 

The snow being still hard enough upon the slopes to give 
us a good grip for our feet, we pushed rapidly on, over roll- 
ing snow-fields with a general upward tendency. About 
half-past seven the sun cleared the peaks behind us, and 
the glare upon the great expanse of virgin snow became very 
dazzling. We worked our way down a long slope, and then 
coming to the corresponding hillslope with a northern out- 
look, we found the snow as soft as powder, and so deep that 
we could touch no bottom with our poles. Here, then, we 
took to our snow-shoes, and zigzagged up over the long 
white haunch of the mountain, pausing at the top for a 
rest. They are useful things, the ski ; for finding that the 
snow was again hard enough to bear us, we soon converted 
ours into a very comfortable bench, from which we enjoyed 
the view of a whole panorama of mountains, the names of 
which my readers will be relieved to hear I have completely 
forgotten. 

The snow was rapidly softening now, under the glare of 
the sun, and without our ski all progress would have been 
impossible. We were making our way along the steep side 
of a valley with the mouth of the Furka Pass fairly in front 
of us. The snow fell away here at an angle of from fifty 
to sixty degrees, and as this steep incline, along the face of 
which we were shufHing, sloped away down until it ended 
in an absolute precipice, a slip might have been serious. 
My two more experienced companions walked below me for 
the half mile or so of danger, but soon we found ourselves 
upon a more reasonable slope, where one might fall with 
impunity. And now came the real sport of snow-shoeing. 
Hitherto, we had walked as fast as boots would do, over 
ground where no boots could pass. But now we had a 



232 WINTER SPORTS 

pleasure which boots can never give. For a third of a 
mile we shot along over gently dipping curves, skimming 
down into the valley without a motion of our feet. In 
that great untrodden waste, with snow-fields bounding 
our vision on every side and no marks of life save the 
tracks of chamois and of foxes, it was glorious to whiz 
along in this easy fashion. A short zigzag at the bottom 
of the slope brought us, at half-past nine, into the mouth 
of the pass ; and we could see the little toy hotels of Arosa, 
away down among the fir woods, thousands of feet beneath. 
Again we had a half mile or so, skimming along with 
our poles dragging behind us. It seemed to me that the 
difficulty of our journey was over, and that we had only 
to stand on our ski and let them carry us to our destination. 
But the most awkward place was yet in front. The slope 
grew steeper and steeper until it fell away into what was 
little short of being sheer precipices. But still that little, 
when there is soft snow upon it, is all that is needed to bring 
out another possibility of these wonderful slips of wood. 
The brothers Branger agreed that the slope was too difficult 
to attempt with the ski upon our feet. To me it seemed as 
if a parachute was the only instrument for which we had 
any use ; but I did as I saw my companions do. They un- 
did their ski, lashed the straps together, and turned them 
into a rather clumsy toboggan. Sitting on these with our 
heels dug into the snow, and our sticks pressed hard down 
behind us, we began to move down the precipitous face of 
the pass. I think that both my comrades came to grief 
over it. I know that they were as white as Lot's wife at 
the bottom. But my own troubles were so pressing that 
I had no time to think of them. I tried to keep the pace 



CROSSING AN ALPINE PASS ON SKI 233 

within moderate bounds by pressing on the stick, which had 
the effect of turning the sledge sideways, so that one skidded 
down the slope. Then I dug my heels hard in, which shot 
me off backwards, and in an instant my two ski, tied to- 
gether, flew away like an arrow from a bow, whizzed past 
the two B rangers, and vanished over the next slope, leaving 
their owner squattering in the deep snow. 

It might have been an awkward accident in the upper 
field where the drifts are twenty or thirty feet deep. But 
the steepness of the place was an advantage now, for the 
snow could not accumulate to any great extent upon it. 
I made my way down in my own fashion. My tailor tells 
me that Harris tweed cannot wear out. This is a mere 
theory and will not stand a thorough scientific test. He will 
find samples of his wares on view from the Furka Pass to 
Arosa, and for the remainder of the day I was happiest 
when nearest the wall. 

However, save that one of the Brangers sprained his 
ankle badly in the descent, all went well with us, and we 
entered Arosa at half-past eleven, having taken exactly 
seven hours over our journey. The residents at Arosa, 
who knew we were coming, had calculated that we could 
not possibly get there before one, and turned out to see 
us descend the steep pass just about the time when we were 
finishing a comfortable luncheon at the Seehoff. I would 
not grudge them any innocent amusement, but still I was 
just as glad that my own little performance was over be- 
fore they assembled with their opera-glasses. 

— Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Copyright, 1894, by A. Conan Doyle. 
Reprinted by permission. 



CARRYING MAIL OVER THE ANDES ON SKI 

For its general utility on snow surfaces the ski has been 
carried far from its native Norway ; even so far, in these 
later days, as to the South Pole itself, since the men of 
Amundsen's successful exploring party were equipped with 
ski. In South America, even at a latitude of thirty- three 
degrees south, there was, before the completion of the rail- 
road between Buenos Ayres and the west coast, a govern- 
ment route by which ski-runners carried mail across the 
Andes over surfaces which might be at one time covered with 
snow so soft that the runner must have his ski shod with 
seal pelt, while at another the exposed snags might make 
it necessary to protect the "palm" of the ski with a plate 
of horn. Mr. Johannes WrorT Wisby thus describes the 
route which, in active operation a few years ago, will soon 
join the "pony express" as a romantic memory. 

The Chilian and Argentine governments employ some 
three hundred expert skimen from Sweden and Norway to 
take the mails from Valparaiso on the Pacific coast across 
the Andes to the railroad which delivers them to Buenos 
Ayres on the Atlantic seaboard. At no time during the 
entire route do the skimen touch the level of the earth, 
for the colossal altitudes of the Andes keep them travelling 
across snow wastes of from 3000 to 18,000 feet elevation 
above the plains. At no time do they feel the firm earth 
234 



CARRYING MAIL OVER THE ANDES ON SKI 235 

under their feet, although huge, jagged rocks and precipi- 
tous canons are among the obstacles they must surmount. 
They are ever whizzing over soft and receding snow beds 
which lightly yield like a mammoth buckboard to the swift 
pass of their fur-lined ski. 

It is not always possible for a skiman to tell whether he 
is speeding across a snow-filled canon or merely across a 
tableland covered by but a few feet of snow, or rather he 
cannot tell until he strikes it, and once into it, there is no 
turning back; over he must. But it is essential for him 
to know whether there is a thousand feet of snow under his 
ski, or merely a layer of a few feet. In the latter case, he 
can take his time and rest on his ski, knowing that the 
rock is directly under him, ready to bear his weight even if 
he were to make a dead stop ; whereas, in the former case, 
it is necessary for him to keep up a stiff pace to get over the 
heavy deposit of loose snow, into which he would quickly 
sink to certain death if he slowed his pace. No one who 
has not seen these hardy skimen of the North, as they pilot 
their perilous trail across the roughest and most inaccessible 
ranges of the Andes, can form a real idea of the courage, 
skill, and strength their onerous duty requires. 

In spite of all their daring and experience I do not believe 
there is a single man among the three hundred mail-carriers 
of the South American Cordilleras who would be able to 
successfully accomplish the entire run from the Pacific to 
the Atlantic seaboard, although I fancy many would for a 
wager venture to try this daring feat. It is hardly possible 
for a single man to know more than a limited number of 
miles of the Andes ski route, and there are ranges so diffi- 
cult and dangerous to locate that a distance of a hundred 



236 WINTER SPORTS 

miles is sometimes parcelled out for half a dozen skimen to 
cover. To run the winter mail across the Andes is a much 
more intricate task than to follow the trail in our Rocky 
Mountain regions. The skiman cannot follow the mule 
trail; he must, on every trip, strike out a new route for 
himself, and the direction of these various routes changes 
according to the condition of the snow-beds. To-day he 
may be gliding down a slope which to-morrow he may have 
to scale, to avoid beating his way across a plateau which in 
the meantime may have been littered with " snags." The 
day after to-morrow he may be circling around the cone of 
some promontory in a downward spiral route, looking for a 
good jumping-off place, where he never before was obliged 
to jump. Then he may be storming down upon a plateau 
rent and partitioned by innumerable chasms and gorges, 
of which some are and some are not bridged over with ice- 
floes ; and of the latter the majority may be solid enough 
to bear him, which is likely to encourage his tackling some 
that are mere crusts of snow-covered ice, liable to burst 
under him like a pane of glass. 

The business of transporting mail across the winter 
Andes is no sinecure. The mail-pouch is handed out in 
Valparaiso and carried from relay to relay, one man cov- 
ering perhaps fifty miles a day, another perhaps only ten, 
all according to the nature of the route, until after many 
dangers, and some broken ski, perhaps also a lost skiman 
or two, it reaches its destination. The idea of using re- 
lays was taken from the pony express mail service of our 
American plains of earlier days. The skimen of the Andes 
are really more than carriers of mail, for at the small moun- 
tain settlements where they stop, they figure as a sort of 



CARRYING MAIL OVER THE ANDES ON SKI 237 

circulating post-office, distributing the mail due and re- 
ceiving the mail of the settlement to other points. In the 
dead of the Andean winter, when even the hardy condor 
screams with cold from its eyrie among the summits of ever- 
lasting snow, the arrival of the skiman mail-carrier is the 
only event of interest to which the inhabitants of the 
mountain settlements looked forward with expectancy and 
pleasure. Many a Dalar lad from Sweden and many sturdy 
skimen from the dour "vidder" (wastes) of Norway have 
emigrated to these regions, allured by the high pay offered, 
only to find his grave, after a period of untold hardship 
and peril among the icy chasms of the great and implac- 
able Andes. In those regions life is not valued much, and 
if a skiman breaks his neck on his solitary trail, he knows 
he would never be missed, were it not for the mail he is 
carrying and failing to distribute. With the completion 
of the great railroad from Buenos Ayres to Santiago (Chili) 
the skiman of the Andean mail service is passing away; 
let us therefore take a parting look, as it were, at this, per- 
haps the most picturesque figure of Andean landscape, 
before he vanishes from the sight of man forever. He 
dresses almost as snugly as the Esquimau. The "poncho" 
or cape, which he dons when carrying the summer mail on 
mule back, is dispensed with in winter, as it would catch 
the wind and interfere with his progress. His clothes are 
tight fitting, and yet ample enough to allow a free move- 
ment of the arms and legs. Around the waist a leather 
belt is strapped, holding a supply of cartridges and a revol- 
ver in holster, for although there is no danger of his meeting 
with robbers in those altitudes, it now and then happens 
that he is attacked by wild beasts, and even by condors, 



238 WINTER SPORTS 

which have been known to mistake him for easy prey and 
swoop on him like thunderbolts. He is very particular 
about his ski, for upon their capacity to stand the strain 
of the tramp depends his life. A man with a shattered ski 
on the Andean mail-route has the same uncomfortable time 
limit as a man overboard in an ocean gale. The skiman 
knows this, but he is so hardened to the dangers which 
constantly surround him that it makes little impression on 
him. Once the ski are strapped about his feet he has no 
other thought than how to most skilfully battle the fury 
of the Andean snow-storms and pilot his mail across the 
trackless tablelands safely into the hands of the "camerado" 
who is awaiting him at the relay post. 

He starts. Plunging down the slopes of the " Cordilleras" 
or ranges, he keeps his " weather-eye" open for snags in 
the shape of protruding rocks or blocks of ice. If he makes 
a severe collision, he knows his journey is finished right 
there. He fixes his attention upon the dazzling expanse 
of snow about two hundred yards ahead of him, so as to 
detect any unevenness in the surface in plenty of time to 
avoid a clash or a fall. If, nevertheless, the inevitable 
happens and he finds himself racing full tilt into some blind 
rock, skilfully hidden by nature under a cover of snow, he 
resorts to the last and only rescue ; he jumps it. When a 
skiman comes tearing down a mountain slope in this fashion, 
he has enormous power for long-distance jumping, and he 
accomplishes feats which in the recounting almost sound 
like fairy-tales. The great momentum of his downward 
plunge, accelerated by the motive power exerted by his own 
ski, send him down the slopes like a projectile from a can- 
non, and when the time comes for jumping, he bends his 



CARRYING MAIL OVER THE ANDES ON SKI 239 

knees, crouches forward, and leaps up into the air. This 
movement releases his ski from contact with the snow, and 
he speeds through the air in an ascending curve, balancing 
his body by the aid of his pole until he again strikes the 
snow, perhaps a hundred feet away from the spot where he 
left it. The Andean runner does not jump his tracks 
unless he is absolutely forced to do it. It is a great tax 
on his strength, as well as on his nerves, and he is never 
sure of landing in easy footing. There have been cases 
where a skiman has jumped to avoid a rock, only to land 
on the naked ice, shattering his ski to splinters. Then, 
again, when jumping in a stiff breeze, the force of a sudden 
blast may harass him so that he loses his balance as he 
speeds through mid air with his pole in his hands, and he 
may not succeed in landing on his feet. If he falls thus, 
fouled by nature, on the rock or on the ice, there is, of course, 
little chance of his survival ; and if he strikes in deep snow, 
the ski are more than likely to fly off his feet and take an 
extra excursion of their own a few thousand feet down the 
cordilleras. Whenever accidents of this kind happen, it is 
better to be an ass in Valparaiso with four legs and two long 
ears than to be a heroic skiman in the Andes. 

By permission of the Outing Publishing Company. 



AN AMERICAN SKI TOURNAMENT 

A typical tournament of the National Ski Association 
of America was that of 1908, at Duluth, where the Duluth 
Ski Club is capitally equipped for such an event. Its 
private grounds, twenty-four acres in extent, is cut by the 
open ravine through which races Chester Creek. 

On its south side a forty-degree incline offered an ideal 
landing-place for the soaring skier, and there the pine and 
poplar and birch woods which shade the creek were cleared 
away for a sufficient distance and a scaffolding built 225 feet 
long, with a drop of 117 feet to the bump or jumping-ofT 
place. From here the natural hill dropped as many feet 
in the same distance and at the bottom was drawn the 
"dead line" beyond which a fall would not be counted 
against the rider. Then came a short quick rise to retard 
the skier somewhat, though he must still throw his ski 
sideways or even on edge to stop short of the guide-ropes. 

On the right side for a hundred feet 250 seats were re- 
served for those who wished at a special price to study the 
ski- jumpers in mid-air. Opposite the lower end of the slide 
were 1250 seats more. And in the natural amphitheatre 
of that curve in the hills 125,000 might as easily have been 
seated with a clear view of the slide from start to finish. 

If you have any reason to remember the weather of that 
year, you know that the lovers of winter sport had hard 
240 



AN AMERICAN SKI TOURNAMENT 241 

work to keep their faith and practice up. The curlers' meet 
was held up for a week, but before the bonspiel adjourned 
had played in a temperature of thirty degrees below zero. 
Then followed a good depth of snow, and in practice jumps 
records were broken and the interest in the coming meet 
keyed up to the highest pitch. The society folk of Duluth 
began to take notice and named out in red Canadian blan- 
ket suits, French stocking caps, German sox, and Indian 
moccasins. The color and life of the city roused the elder 
set to telling of the days some twenty years before when 
St. Paul was famous for its winter carnivals and ice-palaces. 

With the tournament set for Tuesday, Monday scarcely 
dawned at all ; its sun was hidden in mist and fog, and its 
temperature crowded the freezing-point. By every train 
the ski riders of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were 
arriving by clubs and singles with faces almost as lowering 
as the weather. For by noon the city streets were slop 
and thaw, and although the " anxious watchers on the hills" 
reported slightly better conditions it seemed scarcely pos- 
sible that the amateur events could be pulled off at all. 
The local club was showing its northern pluck, however, and 
carted enough loads of snow to the chute to give it a fresh 
layer for its entire length, packed by side-stepping on ski 
all the way up — and the drop, remember, was 117 feet 
in a length of 225. 

But the temperature steadily rose to forty degrees under 
an April drizzle. Nothing but postponement was possible, 
but by this time the excitement had infected the local 
merchants, who, since the main events of the tournament 
could not be held on Lincoln's birthday as planned, arranged 
to close the stores on the following afternoon, if the tern- 



242 WINTER SPORTS 

perature drop on the way from the Dakotas "blew in" in 
time. Early Thursday word was sent around that the 
freezing night had made the iced snow of the slide ideal for 
the sport. Even a bright sun and another rise in tem- 
perature could not spoil this surface, and with the absence 
of wind made the day equally ideal for the looker-on. 

The crowd poured out in thousands to see the most ex- 
pert of America's ski-riders in the contest of the year. 
Each of the sixty contestants was given a trial jump to 
enable him to gauge the condition of the hill, and after 
that, at about 2.30, all were at the top again to follow down 
in the order of their numbers as fast as the coast was clear 
and averaging about twenty-five seconds to a man. 

The conditions of the jumping were these: each rider 
had three runs for the best general average, counting 
one point for every foot between the spot where his feet 
struck on landing and a mark set three feet back from the 
edge of the bump. Touching one hand to the ground be- 
fore crossing the dead-line incurred a loss of fifteen points ; 
both hands down counted as a fall and cost the rider thirty 
points. Then from one to twenty points might be added 
for good form on the slide, in the air, and at the finish. 

On the list of entries the names were suggestive : Ole, 
Olaf, Carl and Tollef, contended with old sturdy Bible 
names — Reuben, Ephraim, Peter, and John ; down near 
the end of both list and score figured a Mike. 

As the sun and the temperature dropped, and the flying 
ski polished the slide as it froze, a fourth round was given 
for distance regardless of form. In this jumps of over one 
hundred feet were common, but no one out-jumped the 
Red Wing, champion of the year before. Not satisfied to 



AN AMERICAN SKI TOURNAMENT 243 

let the score so stand, the Duluth Club offered a special 
prize to the winner who would beat it. In spite of fatigue 
and waning light several returned to the top for one more 
supreme effort. Among them, John Evensen who had 
carried off the honors of the Coleraine meet five days be- 
fore, then saved the day for the home club by high speed and 
a well-timed jump, from which he glided gracefully to the 
guide-ropes, holder of what was at that time the highest 
American record — 116 feet. Three days later the honor 
went to another Duluth man. But a few days later at 
Ishpeming, Mich., John Evensen exceeded both records by 
a jump of 122 feet. 

Two other events of the tournament deserve especial 
mention. The prettiest performance of the day was the 
graceful double flight of "the two Ole's of Coleraine." 

Ole Westgard and Ole Mangseth in gray sweaters and 
flannel trousers stood hand in hand at the topmost landing. 
Together they started, riding hand in hand down the chute, 
and approached the bump with even less concern than if 
they were leading a grand march on a waxed floor. They 
jumped with ease, flew with grace, landed with dignity, and 
then rode to the end, still holding hands, just as though it 
was the natural thing to do. 

The other event outdid for reckless daring anything ever 
attempted in this or any other country. John Rudd, 
twenty-four years old, with some circus experience, started 
down the chute from the middle landing, wearing ski five 
feet four inches long, two or three feet shorter than the regu- 
lation length. He assumed a crouching position from the 
first and made no effort at a high jump, but seemed to roll 
from the chute as though on a bowling-alley. In the air 



244 WINTER SPORTS 

his knees were held tight to his breast and the ski were side 
by side. With his turn nicely timed the back of the ski 
touched the hillside first to signal "land in sight" and to 
help the man when the ski measured their full length on 
the ground. This trick he turned (literally) four times 
during the tournament without fear, and apparently with 
enjoyment. There was some outcry of the danger of dis- 
credit from accidents in reckless trick stunts, — but no more 
dangerous than turning on a fast-galloping horse or in the 
modern high dive. _ SuMNER w Matteson . 

By permission of the World To-day. 



SKIING RESORTS 

The novice on ski will do well to begin his practice at 
some one of the Swiss resorts where caring for the comfort 
of the winter visitor is a science as yet beyond most of the 
innkeepers of Norway. The climate is less trying than 
that of Norway, and there is little discomfort from the wind, 
except occasionally when crossing the top of a pass. Davos, 
Grindelwald, Montana, and Villars-sur-Ollon are famous 
skiing centres; from quiet Arosa one may take the tour 
to Davos through the Furka Pass ; at Klosters, as at some 
other Swiss resorts, a southern exposure makes the con- 
dition of the slopes unreliable; at Lenzerheide the great 
attraction of the place is its fine skiing slopes. There one 
may start on ski from the hotel and find good going to the 
north, east, or west, while elsewhere, from St. Moritz, for 
example, the slopes are at some distance. In late Decem- 
ber and January many of the Swiss resorts make a week's 
or a fortnight's festival of competitions in all forms of win- 
ter sports, including ski-jumping. After these, if devotion 
to "the wooden wings of Norway" is still keen, it is in order 
to visit Christiania and attend the annual games at Hol- 
menkollen, in which the expert ski-runners and ski-jumpers 
in the world contend early in February. A new record for 
ski-jumping was made in 191 2 by Oscar Gunderson of 

I Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, who jumped the amazing dis- 
24s 



246 WINTER SPORTS 

tance of 163 feet, 16 feet beyond the distance jumped by 
the previous holder of the record in Davos in 1910. 

Telemarken, famous in the history of Norway's national 
sport, should be visited, and by the end of March or the first 
of April it should be possible to wind up the tour by a trip 
to the Jotunheim without suffering from such intense cold 
as binds the fiords earlier in the year. 

But the traveller whose route lies outside of either Nor- 
way or Switzerland need not for that reason forego skiing. 
From Rome there is hard snow to be found not rarely in 
the Abruzzo Apennine; if a runner is willing to depend 
upon the accommodations of the chain of well-equipped 
huts in the Tyrol above St. Anton, he can make a long- 
distance tour through almost perfect skiing country in 
view of the grandest of scenery. It is said to be possible 
to ski all the year round in the Tyrol, and the many for- 
eigners who winter in Innspruck on account of its schools 
make frequent excursions by railway to the skiing grounds. 
There is also a skiing district in the Black Forest in the 
neighborhood of the Feldberg. 

In the United States the National Ski Association of 
America has actively developed the sport among the hills 
of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Between thirty- 
five and forty clubs are included in the association, and 
annual tournaments are held, usually in February. Duluth, 
Ishpeming, Chippewa Falls, Coleraine, are all centres for 

ski enthusiasts. „ L . 7 , 

— Complied. 



TOBOGGANING 

MEMORIES OF A BOY-TIME WINTER 

Saturday was always the day of days. Even if two in- 
geniously industrious parents devised duties and rules to 
keep one at home the better part of it, there were usually 
to be had two or three lusty hours of sport. In the spare 
moments of early autumn we boys had put into working 
order our bob-sleds. These were built, for the most part, 
low, broad, and very strong, of oak, ash, or hickory, and were 
shod by the blacksmith. It took a good bit of rubbing 
down with glass or ashes to get the iron runners " shiny " 
and smooth, but after a few trial trips what lightning speed 
did they achieve ! We had never seen " double runners" 
in those days, and the largest bob could not accommodate 
more than four or five persons. 

Saturday afternoon found us with our bobs — on a long 
hill which, since it was a main- travelled road, was usually 
in fine trim for coasting, or "slidin' downhill," as we pro- 
vincially termed it. . 

For some unknown philological reason our slide went by 
the name of "Bob Nick" — an exceedingly suggestive 
bit of nomenclature, and more characteristic of the doings 
that took place on its tortuous descent than any I 've ever 
heard given to a like resort. Halfway down the slope 
stood a gigantic pine, long a landmark of the section ; here 
247 



248 WINTER SPORTS 

the road accomplished a hair-raising curve. The more 
timorous souls started at this point to make the coast ; but 
the hardier spirits dragged their bobs clean up to the top, 
where stood the cemetery in chilly warning, and with a 
whoop flung themselves down on their sleds and were off. 
It was the proudest day of my boy time when singly and 
alone I could steer my bob from the top of the hill down, 
taking the pine-tree curve in all the arrogance of a sure 
hand and terrific speed, safely avoid the worst " bumps" 
and the town pump, and bring up, panting and watery- 
eyed, a mile away. 

We found it more efficacious to guide the sled in the man- 
ner known in innocent vulgarity to us as "belly-gut"; 
and this consisted in picking up the bob with both hands, 
running for a good start, and then slamming body and 
sled down together, kicking the road lustily with our cop- 
per-toed boots in the efforts to "keep 'er straight." 

I have since attempted toboggans and ice-boats and auto- 
mobiles, — all of which dash about at fearful speed, — yet 
nothing has ever brought the simple exultation of body and 
mind that came in the brave, blinding rush of that old red 
bob-sled down Bob Nick. 

On rare occasions, if the moon was full, we were allowed 
to coast at night. It was wonderful and mysterious. 
Along the hill were set lanterns and flaring torches. The 
young beaux were there with their "girls," screaming, 
shouting, falling from the sleds, and tumbling into great, 
white, soft drifts. Red-cheeked, bright-eyed girls they 
were, with high-strung voices that vibrated with their un- 
limited capacity for perfect enjoyment. The snow sang 
under the runners ; the world was ghostly still and lit with 




A TOBOGGAN SPILL 



MEMORIES OF A BOY-TIME WINTER 249 

unearthly, bluish light from the vast dome of sky; the 
speeding sled bore one in a moment from the exuberance 
of human intercourse to long, dim stretches of awesome 
silence. There was a daring in it all, a courage; one felt 
it, but could not speak it. Late — half after ten was tre- 
mendously late to us — we went home, half -dazed, chilled 
to the bone, our legs aching with fatigue. 

— Emery Pottle. 

By permission of the Outing Company. 



COASTING 

Coasting terms vary widely in different places. In 
America the word "toboggan" is limited to the primitive 
flat glider over either soft snow or crust. In Switzerland, 
the word is used more generally and may include snow-run- 
ning on a straight or smoothly winding road-run, or the 
very highly developed sport which is considered "tobog- 
ganing" proper, on specially prepared and costly ice-runs. 
Snow-running is considered a stage for beginners, a pre- 
paratory course for the higher form of sport ; on a natural 
mountain slope, especially one from which it is possible to 
run out upon the surface of a frozen lake, the flat "Cana- 
dian," the type to which alone we apply the word " tobog- 
gan," is sometimes seen. More common are the Swiss 
"luge," much like the American "high sled," upon which 
the rider is in a sitting position with the feet on a front 
cross-bar, the low hand-sled on which the coaster lies prone 
— for this reason called in some states a "belly-bumper" 
and similar names — known abroad as the "America"; 
and the bob-sleigh, which is the familiar American bob-sled. 
The "America" and the bob-sleigh are used on both the 
snow and the ice-runs; and for the latter there has been 
devised a coaster called the "steel skeleton" with which, 
on the Cresta run at St. Moritz in the Engadine, it has been 
possible to make a speed on the steepest parts of the course 
of eighty miles an hour. This, be it remembered, is on a 
winding course and indicates a much faster racing machine 
250 



COASTING 251 

than any which in America or Canada has attained a speed 
of eighty miles an hour on a straight chute. 

The jolliest, most popular form of the sport in Switzer- 
land is coasting on the Swiss luge ; no one is too old or dig- 
nified at a Swiss winter resort to join a " tailing party," 
even should one shirk the coasting when the course is 
reached. " Tailing" is hitching a number of sleds in pairs 
to a whiffle- tree or behind a sleigh which is drawn by horses. 
Sometimes the destination is merely the top of a mountain 
road for the purpose of coasting down; sometimes one's 
parents and provisions are bundled into a sleigh and the 
objective point is a mountain hut or a sheltered spot where 
picnicking is possible. The real fun is in trying to main- 
tain one's place on the sled when the horse is making good 
speed upon a descent which is also sloping from one side to 
the other. Sudden changes in grade or a speedier move- 
ment on the part of the horse occasionally gives a swing 
to the "tail," which reminds one of the old game of "crack 
the whip" ; it is fine practice in the art of sitting tight. 

Bob-sledding is a strenuous sport in Switzerland, where 
giant roadsters, carrying as many as a dozen, make terrific 
speed. One bob-sleigh course, surveyed, graded, and piped 
for a water-supply, prepared, in short, as carefully as if it 
were a railway, is said to have cost for its initial con- 
struction, quite aside from the expense of putting its snow 
surface into good condition each year, to say nothing 
of upkeep, as much as $5000. 

In the United States, bob-sledding is chiefly a pastime 
on country roads; the "flexible flyer" is perhaps in itself 
a slight advance upon the Swiss luge, but scarcely so ap- 
preciated as a funmaker. The " ripper," " clipper," or 



252 WINTER SPORTS 

"Long John" — names vary widely — is a long, low, 
heavy sled (its weight contributes to its speed), which is 
said to be hard to steer but capable of great speed. As a 
writer in Country Life in America describes it : — 

"It is usually home-made or carpenter-built. Round 
steel runners, three-quarters or five-eighths of an inch in 
diameter, can be made by any blacksmith. They are 
fastened at the ends to the side-planks of the sled ; the ends 
being flattened, bent over, and punctured by the blacksmith 
to fit the wooden side-pieces." 

If the runner is so curved as to give a spring of from 
one-half to three-quarters of an inch, it will ride more 
smoothly over rough places, and absorb a good deal of the 
jarring which decreases speed. The same writer adds: — 

"Three-quarters or seven-eighths oak should be used 
for the sides, and a half -inch oak board for the seat. 
Two-by-two oak sticks are not too big for braces, and 
should be mortised into the sides. Sometimes the sides 
are over six feet long, as length is supposed to give greater 
speed, with the seat at the rear end less than three feet 
long, the front portion of the sled being made firm by 
stout braces. 

"With two of these sleds — a smaller one in front — 
four brick-shaped blocks and a long heavy plank, the best 
sort of l double-runner,' or bob-sled, can be made. The 
blocks should be fastened firmly to the sled seats and the 
under side of the plank. The blocks at the rear should be 
fastened together by means of a hinge, or eye-bolts, while 
the front sled is furnished with a king-bolt and washers, 
and the vehicle is steered by ropes in the hands of the front 
man. Such a bob-sled can be made long enough to hold 
a dozen or more, and can attain a high speed, after an icy 
track has been worn on a long straight hill." 



COASTING 253 

There are mechanical devices for braking, but on the 
straight-away American slopes there is less need of it than 
on winding artificial runs, and the pegs used in Switzerland 
by the road-coasters are rarely seen in this country. These 
are about the size of a policeman's club, with wrist thongs, 
and one is used in each hand. One end of the peg is sharply 
spiked and is used for steering ; the other end is equipped 
for braking with a large screw, of which the head forms the 
brake. On the artificial ice-runs only body-steering is al- 
lowed, and nothing more than the " rakes" on the coaster's 
boots, since any form of mechanical brake would injure the 
smooth ice-surface. A "rake" is a toe-plate, strongly 
made, having at the tip six or more sharp, triangular points 
running nearly an inch beyond the toe. A rider in the neces- 
sary prone position can dig either or both toes into the ice 
at need; but over-indulgence in raking is frowned upon. 
So great a strain is thrown on the rakes at times that no 
screws could be trusted to hold the plate to the sole of the 
boot, and it is usual, therefore, to have a special toe-cap at- 
tached. The boots are those ordinarily used for mountain 
climbing, good and stout, with ice-creepers on the heels 
and soles. 

The rest of the costume may be a loose, thick jersey, warm 
underwear, with trousers and leggings so in harmony as 
to securely keep out the snow. On the ice-runs abroad 
a more elaborate equipment of pads is needed ; and any 
one who intends to make trial of this sport might be wise 
if he secured — it could probably be obtained through the 
Palace Hotel at St. Moritz in the Engadine — a copy of 
the Cresta Handbook for novices. Compiled 



THE TOBOGGAN 

The original toboggan was a primitive Indian affair, 
built of poles and thongs. The modern toboggan of the 
United States and Canada is still very simple in principle. 
It is designed to secure both strength and lightness. It is 
constructed of simple, narrow, well-seasoned, straight- 
grained boards fastened together by light cross-pieces. 
The front end is bent up and over to form the "hood," and 
fastened securely by means of wire or leather thongs. 

Manufactured toboggans are usually from four to nine 
feet long, and about eighteen inches wide; are usually sup- 
plied with cushions and accommodate from one to five per- 
sons. One type is made of three strips of wood, each slightly 
curved on its under surface, reducing the area in contact 
with the snow so that each practically forms a separate 
runner. Good toboggans can be bought at prices ranging 
from $2.50 for a small, cheap affair for a boy, up to $12 
for the best eight-foot toboggan. Upon an elaborately 
made-to-order toboggan even more may easily be spent, but 
this is for upholstery and finish rather than for the tobog- 
gan itself. 

In Canada toboggans are used to some extent on soft 
snow on the hillside, but the iced chutes, where high speed 
can be attained, are more popular. In making the chute, 
a natural hillside is generally utilized, though the chute 
itself is built of wood on trestles. In a few of the most 

254 



THE TOBOGGAN 255 

modern chutes a steel construction has been erected. 
There are usually four or more parallel tracks, two or three 
feet wide, separated by wooden or ice partitions a few inches 
high. These tracks are covered with a sheet of smooth ice 
by flooding in cold weather. From a platform at the top 
the toboggans are released, either mechanically or by at- 
tendants, and shoot down the descent, which for a few yards 
is frightfully steep. Gradually the angle of descent be- 
comes less, though the speed is not diminished. The chute 
is not a straight decline, but is in the form of a concave arc. 
" Bumps" or hills are often built on the ground, not far 
from the foot of the chute, to add to the zest of the sport. 
The best and biggest chutes are supplied with mechanical 
means for dragging the coasters to the top again. 

Tobogganing was a popular sport in Canada long before 
it gained a foothold in the United States. In the late 
eighties, however, it became a fad in many parts of the 
country, and for a few years toboggan chutes proved a 
good investment. But as a fad it flickered and died, just 
as roller skating did, and the toboggan chute and the roller- 
skating rink went out of commission at about the same 
time. But as a sport neither really died, and tobogganing 
is being indulged in more and more each winter. Many 
country clubs, like the Ardsley Club, near New York, 
maintain toboggan chutes for the amusement in winter of 
their tennis, golf, and polo devotees, 

In some country places, however, where there is no to- 
boggan fad nor toboggan chute, the sport is popular on 
natural crust or soft snow on long hillsides. Country 
tobogganing of this sort has features that in some localities 
make it very popular. 



256 WINTER SPORTS 

While manufactured toboggans are not expensive, home- 
made affairs are still less costly. A good one can be made 
for two or three dollars. A half-dozen strips of cedar or 
ash, a quarter of an inch thick, three inches wide, and about 
a foot longer than the desired length of the finished tobog- 
gan, form the chief item. The wood should be well-sea- 
soned, perfectly sound, and straight grained. These care- 
fully selected strips should be planed or matched on the 
edges, and fastened close together by means of transverse 
cleats of wood half an inch square, with the top corners 
chamfered. The cleats should be a foot or so apart, and 
should be fastened on by means of running through the 
thin strips into the cleats, with the heads on the under 
side of the toboggan, sunk the merest trifle below the sur- 
face of the wood. Cleats should be fixed at the extreme ends 
of the strips, that at the front end being attached to the 
under side. 

The front of the toboggan must be bent into a hood, 
and the easiest way for the amateur to do it is to start a 
hot fire in the range and get up steam in an old-fashioned 
wash-boiler. The toboggan must be propped up some- 
where so that one end can be left in the steam, under the 
cover, for half an hour. The toboggan must be shifted 
from time to time so that about two feet of it will be thor- 
oughly steamed. 

Now see that the screws are all right, and then fasten the 
toboggan, right side up, to the workbench or the floor, by 
placing sticks across it and nailing them down at each end. 
Have these all ready in advance, for you must work quickly 
so that the steam won't get all out of the wood. One cross- 
stick should be placed about two feet from the front end, 



^ 









TOBOGGANING MADE EASY. 



THE TOBOGGAN 257 

leaving the end free. Now grasp the end cleat firmly, and 
bend the hood around into shape. It takes some strength 
and patience, of course. When it has been bent into a semi- 
circle, or a little more, fasten it temporarily by stout twine 
or rope to the temporary cross-stick. Then you can take 
your time in fashioning some permanent fastening, running 
from the ends of the first cleat to the third, and fastened 
by screw-eyes. A stout leather thong is perhaps the best 
fastening. 

Now screw a chamfered stick along each side, across the 
ends of the cleats, for handles, give the whole a couple of 
coats of varnish or shellac, have a flat cushion made of 
canvas or old carpet, and the toboggan is done. It will 
take some time to learn to steer it down a steep hill, with- 
out upsetting; but that's half the fun. The steerer sits on 
his hip at the rear end of the toboggan, steering with his 
foot as a boy steers a sled. The present fashion on the 
built slides of Montreal is for three or four people to lie 
face down on the toboggan, halfway on top of each other, 
for all the world like a living shingle-lap. The narrowness 
of these sidebanked chutes reduces the need of steering to 
a minimum, and the style described is adopted in order 
that the least possible wind may be caught, the speed be 
unretarded, and the danger of a throw-off lessened. 

— W. A. D. 

Reprinted from Country Life in America. 
By permission of Doubleday, Page & Co. 



A PRIMITIVE COASTER 

Most primitive of all coasters is the small-boy contrivance 
for the descent of Quebec hills, within the gates and with- 
out. To an ordinary barrel-stave he fastens an upright 
piece of wood some two inches square and from a foot to 
eighteen inches high, according to the length of his legs. 
He must be able to touch the ground with his toes in order 
to steer as he sits upon a cross-piece surmounting the top, 
Upsets are uncommon, in spite of a high velocity, and a 
flight of twenty or more of these gamins on the fly at once 
is a sight for gods — and policemen. A culprit is seldom 
caught, for he can escape upon his steed, run off with it 
under his arm or leave it behind — a worthless trophy 
for the enemy. _ j£AN N _ McIlweaitH- 

From Country Life in America. 

By permission of Doubleday, Page & Co. 



258 



TOBOGGANING AS A SPORT 

Tobogganing as a sport originated on the slopes of 
Mount Royal ; one had to wait, to be sure, for a moonlight 
night and a good crust on the snow ; but on such a night 
the slopes were alive with sliders on toboggans, bob-sleighs, 
and sleds, who found in the free-for-all open courses an ele- 
ment of uncertainty and even adventure such as the cut- 
and-dried sport on artificial high slides can hardly afford. 
Such a modern slide generally crowns the summit of some 
slight elevation, and the depth of the drop is graduated by 
a supporting trestlework. Its width varies according to 
the number of chutes into which it is to be subdivided. 
These are practically troughs, flooded and frozen: thus 
each chute is separated from the next by a ridge of ice. 
Each chute is so nearly the width of a toboggan that steer- 
ing is almost unnecessary, the risk of upset and accident 
reduced to a minimum, and with the danger is gone the 
sense of daring adventure. 

Yet the sensation of breakneck speed remains, and the 
"drop" on the steep Montreal slide is something appalling. 
Far beneath lies the hazy outline of the city,, but the incline 
seems (above the drop) only moderately steep. It is only 
after the start that one realizes that he seems to be approach- 
ing the edge of a precipice. There is nothing to do but 
cling, — and out the toboggan shoots, gaining a momentum 
259 



2 6o WINTER SPORTS 

so great that it seems scarcely to touch the earth, and car- 
ries one well down on the level stretch of the slide before 
the rider catches breath as the end of the slide is reached. 

— J. C. Allen. 



The first snowfall in Canada is an intoxicant. Boys go 
snow mad. Montreal has a temporary insanity. The 
houses are prepared for the visit of King North Wind, and 
the Canadians are the only people in the world who know 
how to keep warm outdoors as well as indoors. The streets 
are gay with life and laughter, and everybody seems de- 
termined to make the most of the great carnival. Business 
goes to the dogs. There is a mighty march of tourists 
and townspeople crunching over the crisp snow, and a 
constant jingle of sleigh-bells. If you go to any of the 
toboggan slides, you will witness a sight that thrills the on- 
looker as well as the tobogganist. The natural hills were 
formerly the only resort, but some one introduced the 
Russian idea of erecting a high wooden structure, up one 
side of which you drag your toboggan, and down the other 
side of which you fly like a rocket. These artificial slides 
are the more popular, as they are the easier of ascent, and 
can be made so as to avoid cahots, or bumps. The hills 
are lit by torches stuck in the snow on each side of the track, 
and huge bonfires are kept burning, around which gather 
picturesque groups. Perhaps of all sports of the carnival 
this is the most generally enjoyed by visitors. Some of 
the slides are very steep, and look dangerous, and the sen- 
sation of rushing down the hill on the thin strip of basswood 
is one never to be forgotten. 



TOBOGGANING AS A SPORT 261 

"How do you like it ? " asked a Canadian girl of an Ameri- 
can visitor, whom she had steered down the steepest slide. 
"Oh, I would n't have missed it for a hundred dollars !" 
"You '11 try it again, won't you ? " 

"Not for a thousand dollars." 

— J. T. Bealby. 



A PRACTICAL TOBOGGAN CHUTE 

This toboggan chute was erected early in the winter of 
1905 by the Ardsley Club, at Ardsley-on-Hudson, as an 
experiment. It was built by subscription, and paid for its 
own maintenance. It added a most exciting sport to the 
pleasures of winter. 

The club grounds include what were once rolling, hilly 
farms, and the golf links extend over upland meadows and 
past ancient apple orchards. One of the long, high hill- 
sides has been utilized for the toboggan chute, and two 
round hillocks or dunes form secondary slopes, which add 
both variety and speed. 

It cost, all told, $1700 to build and equip the Ardsley 
toboggan chute. This included the actual structure, the 
toboggans, wiring and lights, and water piping for freezing 
purposes. This figure is high, because Ardsley is Ardsley. 
The chute could certainly be built for much less in some 
places. Members of a less pretentious club might get to- 
gether and build their own chute. Most of the Ardsley 
chute is taken down during the summer, especially where 
it interferes with the golf course, and is stored away in 
sections in a barn. It costs between $200 and $250 to put 
it up again and reinstall lights along its entire length. 

The chute itself is of the single-track variety, and no 
toboggan is despatched at the top until the previous one has 
262 



A PRACTICAL TOBOGGAN CHUTE 263 

left the chute at the bottom. The construction is simple, 
and for the most part follows the natural contour of the 
ground. The chief exception is where the chute crosses a 
deep natural gully, sixty or seventy feet wide, on a trestle. 
In building it, one-inch boards are used for the most 
part, and care is taken to have the bed of the chute 
smooth and free from protruding nails. The bottom of the 
chute rests on the ground, or is raised a few feet in places 
to regulate the grade. The sides are a foot high, which is 
ample to prevent running off the track ; brushing against 
the sides is checked by filling in the corner with a triangular 
strip of wood. The chute is three feet wide inside. 

The slide is toward the west, so that the sun during the 
winter strikes down from the south along the entire length. 
A shield of boards about three feet high above the side of 
the chute, and extending its whole length on the south side, 
is sufficient to shade the ice during the entire day and to re- 
duce melting to a minimum. 

The chute measures 2100 feet in length, and the ground 
beyond it is kept covered with snow, smoothed down, so 
that a swift ride of over half a mile is obtained. An apple 
orchard and other obstructions beyond make it necessary 
to cover the ground with straw, to check the speed and 
prevent broken necks. If there were no checks or ob- 
structions the continued slope would send the toboggan 
clear across the Hudson — or into it.. 

The start is down a slope of not more than thirty degrees, 
and yet the speed attained at once is utterly breathless. 
The level stretch and two slight rises beyond seem to check 
the toboggan not at all, while the two secondary slopes add 
perceptibly to the momentum. 



264 WINTER SPORTS 

The toboggans were bought in Canada. There are 
twenty-five of them — fiat-bottomed, wooden toboggans 
of the ordinary type. A dozen or more private toboggans 
are also kept in the club barn, including five modern Cana- 
dian racers with steel runners. Only their owners and 
recognized experts are allowed on the chute with these 
latter, as their tremendous speed makes them most hazard- 
ous in the hands of a tyro. 

The cost of running the chute is defrayed by charging 
seventy-five cents per hour or fraction thereof for the use 
of the toboggans. This includes the services of attendants, 
and also of horses and sleigh to haul the toboggans uphill 
again. A road follows alongside the chute, nearly to the 
top. 

The club secured the real thing for their toboggan over- 
seer — a Canadian who makes tobogganing a business. 
He has five assistants. All this expense was more than 
covered last winter by the toboggan rental. 

At the top of the chute is a platform with seats and a 
slightly sloping iced take-off, on which the toboggan is 
placed while being loaded. The chief function of the at- 
tendants is to hold the toboggan while loading up, to see 
that all skirts and overcoats are tucked in, and that there 
is nothing loose to catch on the sides of the chute. Then 
they give a few parting injunctions, shove off, and grin. 

Down shoots the loaded toboggan like a streak, out on 
the level that feels like uphill when you strike it, over the 
two knolls that feel like extra violent " thank-you-ma'ams," 
and then out of the chute and on to the snow before you 
can take your first breath. 

The little speech of the man at the top is something like 



A PRACTICAL TOBOGGAN CHUTE 265 

this — though heaven knows how one is to think of any of 
it when one feels more like a ten-inch shell than anything 
else : "Hold tight, don't reach out your hands or stick out 
your feet. Don't grab the person in front. When you 
reach the turn at the bottom, lean to the left. If your 
hat blows off, let 'er blow." 

Yes, there 's excitement in the sport, and to the timid it 
looks dangerous, but it gained new converts every day last 
winter at Ardsley. If the winter weather is normal, to- 
bogganing is possible almost every day from the middle of 
November until the early spring thaws come, while the 
ice pond is unsafe or unpleasant half the time. At Ardsley 
two hundred persons often enjoyed the sport during a single 
day. The chute was busiest between 4 and 10.30 p.m. 

Of course, the charm of tobogganing, as it is conducted 
at Ardsley, lies largely in what we are beginning to know as 
speed-intoxication. And the speed on the Ardsley chute? 
Well, they hesitate to tell you up there, for fear you won't 
believe. The figures do seem incredible, and no one can 
swear by them, because it is so difficult to take the exact 
time. But the alleged speed — you may take it for what 
it is worth — is something like ninety miles an hour. That 
is certainly going, but the men who make the claim look 
not only honest but solemn and awestruck when they tell 
you about it. They say that a well-known railroad timer 
caught the speed for the 2 100- foot stretch one day, and 
found that the all-wooden toboggans did it in from twenty 
to twenty-six seconds, and that the steel-shod affairs shot 
from the top to the end of the chute in from fourteen to 
seventeen seconds. _ WalT£r a _ DyER _ 



THE KLOSTERS COURSE AT DAVOS 

The chief Davos toboggan run, the Klosters course, is 
over the last two miles of the highroad, between Davos 
and Klosters, although when the track is in good condition, 
a much longer distance can be ridden. As a rule there is 
plenty of snow during the winter months; sometimes, 
however, there has been a scarcity of this precious article 
and the races had to be run on a road coated with ice. 
Fancy dashing down two miles of this slippery surface at 
full pace ! Those who have not experienced the sensations 
of tobogganing, or witnessed a race, cannot possibly realize 
how intensely exciting such a run can be. As each corner is 
approached, the rider imagines that it must be his last. 
He feels as if he were being drawn to the side of the track 
and over the bank by an irresistible magnetic force, and yet 
he struggles on, while the pace quickens as he rushes 
down the track of ice, half insensible at times, yet instinc- 
tively doing the right thing at the right moment. The 
first sharp corner is successfully taken. On he flies towards 
a dreaded zigzag. A few vigorous efforts, a sharp dig with 
the toe-rake, a moment of fear and expectation, and once 
more he has the straight road before him. There is no 
time to think of the past success, for there are more obstacles 
to conquer. A nasty corner, the sharpest of all, is still to 
come. Here it is, only a few yards off. His rakes crash 
266 



THE KLOSTERS COURSE AT DAVOS 267 

down, a strong muscular effort, a desperate shove, a shuffle, 
a short moment of suspense, and it is passed like a shot. 
Now for the final wild rush down the last straight run. A 
few seconds more, and the last corner is reached. A repeti- 
tion of the last manoeuvre brings him round. Yet a few 
yards, and he glides swiftly past the winning-post. The 
cheers of his friends crowding around the finish sound 
dully in his ears, while for a few seconds he sits exhausted 
on his skeleton. A minute later, the screams of the excited 
lookers-on announce the arrival of another man, one of the 
favorites. At a terrific pace he approaches, but, alas, too 
quickly; for instead of rounding the corner, he dashes 
over the side into a heap of snow — such is the fate of 
even the best of riders occasionally. In 1897, when the 
Klosters track was coated with ice, Mr. Bertie Dwyer 
rode the two miles in the splendid time of four minutes 
thirty-four seconds. _ A PlTCAmN . KN0WLES . 

Reprinted by permission of the Outing Company. 



THE "CRESTA" RUN AT ST. MORITZ 

The famous "Cresta" run at St. Moritz is considered 
to be the most difficult course of its kind in the world, and 
is undoubtedly the most carefully prepared ice course in 
Switzerland. The run, from five to six feet wide, and 1300 
yards long, with a fall of about 180 yards, is formed in the 
shape of a groove. On either side the snow is banked up, 
particular care being taken at the curves, where the snow 
is raked at varying degrees, and the banks thus built up 
resemble the curve of a bicycle track. The entire run is 
thus flanked by a wall of hard frozen snow, which at some 
places is nearly twenty feet high. Where a road crosses the 
track, the bank is, of course, broken. With the assistance 
of water and a sharp frost, the track, when thus prepared, 
is covered with a coating of ice, and the great "Cresta" 
is ready to receive the eager tobogganers who have come 
from all parts of the world. It is, of course, neither possi- 
.ble nor desirable to make the track in one straight line; 
in fact, the great number and the difficulty of the curves 
form the chief attraction of the "Cresta" to riders as well 
as spectators. Three particularly interesting parts of the 
track are " Church Leap/' where the rider enjoys his first 
plunge down a dizzy grade at a terrific speed ; " Battledore 
and Shuttle-cock,' ' two nasty corners close together, 
about halfway down the run, where the rider experiences 
268 



THE "CRESTA" RUN AT ST. MORITZ 269 

some shaking and tossing ; and the great Leap at the end 
of the run, where the toboggan, if it is travelling fast enough, 
for a few seconds flies through the air with its occupant 
clinging to it. This is one of the most exciting moments, 
even to the ordinary rider, whose leap will probably not 
be considerable ; but what must have been the sensations 
of the champion leaper, who established the wonderful rec- 
ord of a sixty-six foot jump. It will no doubt be of interest 
to those who know tobogganing only by hearsay, to know 
that the speed at this part of the course is sometimes as 
much as seventy miles an hour. Two well-known riders 
were once timed over the last fifty yards of the course; 
they covered it at the rate of sixty-seven miles an hour. 
The greatest precaution is taken to make sure that the 
course is clear before a competitor is allowed to start. 
The starter receives all the necessary communication by 
telephone and signal bells. Timing is correct to a tenth 
of a second. The moment a tobogganer passes a certain 
point at the commencement of the track, his machine 
breaks through a thread stretched across the course, thereby 
starting an electric timing-clock, while in the same way the 
thread at the finish is torn, the current severed, and the 

clock stopped. . _ 

— A. Pitcairn-Knowles. 

Reprinted by permission from Outing magazine. 



TOBOGGANING ON A SWISS GLACIER 

I had never been in these regions, and their largeness and 
beauty were a revelation to me when, in the late October 
afternoon I, with our guide, Herr Leonhard Guler, his boy 
Christian, and a girl friend of mine, reached the club-huts. 
We had left Davos in the morning and driven up through 
the Vereina Thai to Sardasca — a summer alp — where we 
ate our lunch sitting on the low roof of the now deserted 
cow-stables. At 2.30 we started upon our walk, and as- 
cended the steep tract, which wound through rocks, scarce 
tufts of grass, and withering bilberry bushes, into the barren 
domains of ice and stone above. Our march was a very 
slow and laborious one, for this reason : Herr Guler who 
knows these parts well, being a native of them, and a guide 
and hunter over them, had for a long time past entertained 
the brilliant and adventurous plan of tobogganing down 
over a large portion of the Silvretta glacier. As the autumn 
advanced the surface grew ever smoother and more fit, 
and he urgently entreated me to join his expedition. I 
willingly went, rejoicing at the thought of such a novel 
experience in my favorite sport. Four toboggans had, 
therefore, to be carried up the 4000 feet. Christian Guler, 
being a taciturn youth of great determination, shouldered 
three and started on in front, producing, as he ascended 
through the alder bushes, a very uncouth effect. His 
270 



TOBOGGANING ON A SWISS GLACIER 271 

father carried a fourth, and as few provisions as four strong 
people could subsist upon for twenty- four hours. The day 
was hot, and the earth extremely dry after a period of three 
weeks' brilliant weather. We only halted once ; and, for 
a small diversion, set the hillside on fire. Innumerable 
little flames ran swiftly over the ground, leaving black 
tracks behind them. At 4.30 we reached the club-hut. 
It is a tiny stone edifice — square, with two little rooms, a 
table, some hay to sleep on, and a most superior iron stove. 
On this stove we cooked some coffee. We had no milk. 
The weight of the toboggans had forbidden any needless 
luxuries. After our coffee we hurried out with a rope 
and ice-axe to make a hasty survey of the ice-fall which 
breaks over the cliffs above Sardasca. The glacier was al- 
ready in shadow then, and a faint reflected glow from the 
sunset cast strange gray green lights down through the 
deep crevasses, where the unseen waters gurgled on mys- 
teriously. All the upper peaks, however, glowed still for 
many minutes with an intense crimson hue. Darkness 
fell very suddenly, and we were forced to turn in early to the 
huts. An old white hare bustled likewise home among the 
boulders. A tin of mock-turtle soup, added to the guide's 
Mehlsuppe, formed our evening meal. An ancient pack of 
cards was then produced, and the evening was spent in the 
thrilling pursuit of "Schwarzer Peter." A shrill wind whis- 
tled down over the glacier against the outside walls, but we 
were warm within, and the light of a single candle cast our 
shadows round the room. It was a wonderful world of snow 
and stars upon which we gazed before we went to sleep. 

At 3 a.m. we were aroused. The aspect of the sky had 
greatly changed. The Great Bear had disappeared, but 



272 WINTER SPORTS 

the brilliant belt of Orion stood directly opposite, and very 
near the Pleiades. The whole sky shimmered with innumer- 
able lights, and the thin wind blew through the unclouded 
air, down over the snow, as it had blown all night. Weak 
black coffee and butterless bread is not an appetizing meal 
whereof to partake at 3.30 a.m. At least, those who have 
not won their night's rest on a truss of hay might quarrel 
with it. I know that I was willing enough to devour the 
meagre meal. At 4.30 we left the huts, and, by the light 
of a single lantern, we commenced our march. We were 
preceded by the lounging form of the imperturbable Chris- 
tian, who, with his back bowed beneath the weight of three 
toboggans, and carrying a bundle of sticks under his arm, 
might, as he walked against the stars, have laid the foundation 
for many mountain myths. We soon reached the glacier, 
and there welcomed the faint light of dawn, which now be- 
came visible above the sharp black ridge of the Rothfluh. 
One by one the stars vanished, but the bitter night wind 
still struggled with the smile of morn and cut against our 
faces. About half an hour up the glacier we left our lantern 
and put down the toboggans, for it was now easier to draw 
them over the snow than to carry them. We then continued 
our steady march for fully an hour and a half up over the snow- 
fields, stopping about every forty yards to place a stick in 
the snow, which should guide us on our downward tobog- 
ganing course. There was a sprinkling of freshly fallen 
snow, from two to six inches deep in places, and we trod 
through this rather sorrowfully, fearing lest it should inter- 
fere with our tobogganing projects. 

At 7.30 we reached the top of the glacier, and there we 
left our toboggans, intending to ascend the Pitz Buin. But 



TOBOGGANING ON A SWISS GLACIER 273 

an unfortunate incident occurred which greatly frightened 
and delayed us. My friend, unused to such high altitudes 
and early rising, complained of feeling faint from cold, and, 
upon examination, Herr Guler found that her right hand was 
badly frost-bitten. This entailed fully an hour and a half 
of continuous rubbing; but, thanks to the sustained exer- 
tions of Guler, life was restored to the frozen ringers and we 
were able to return to the glacier and to our toboggans. 
Christian and I took our seats at once, and started slowly 
forward over the first gentle incline. Guler followed in the 
rear, towing my scarcely recovered friend at a pace which he 
made as moderate as the steepness of the descent allowed. It 
was my privilege to ride a very superior race horse ; but I soon 
saw to my sorrow that Christian's progress was much faster 
than my own, owing to the fact that he carried two alpen- 
stocks, with the help of which he propelled himself success- 
fully forward. So I hastened back to the starting-point, 
picked up two of our remaining markers, and with these 
sticks to push me on I rode in pursuit of the fast-disappearing 
Christian upon that immense expanse of virgin snow. 

I can now only relate my own experiences of that memor- 
able ride. Smooth and very slowly at first ; then, on a sud- 
den, the runners of my toboggan glided easier — then 
bounded forward. I realized that I was on the verge of the 
great Kegel, or rounded summit, of the Silvretta pass. Be- 
low me lay the billowy sea of unending white ; beyond that 
again broken bits of moraine ; then glimpses of the verdur- 
ous Prattigau surmounted by innumerable ranges ending in 
Todi and the whole Bernese Oberland. I could not fully real- 
ize the superb immensity of that Alpine view. I merely tore 
off my hat, leant back, lifted my feet, and felt my toboggan 



274 WINTER SPORTS 

springing forward into space. Then followed the most breath- 
less flight I have ever known. Up dashed the fresh snow into 
my face, rilling my ears, my eyelids, my mouth and nostrils, 
and plastering itself in upon my chest. All power of con- 
trolling my headlong course had banished. I believed I 
invoked the Deity and myself to stop at once this mad 
career. Then for a second all consciousness of danger for- 
sook me. I was seized with the intoxication of movement, 
and hurled forward with closed eyes and lungs choked by 
the driving snow, which rose in a cloud before me. When 
I recovered my senses, it was to find myself launched forth 
upon a gentler slope, and many metres to the left of the as- 
signed course. A few feet in front of me I became aware 
of an old scar of a crevasse. It was neck or nothing, and 
I had no energy to stop. I shot across it, and steered out 
upon the even plain of glacier. I had descended, through 
the sunlight, in the space of five minutes, a tract of snow- 
field which it had taken us over an hour to climb at dawn. 

Thus ended my ride. Gladly would I repeat it. My 
companions followed. The tandem was not a speedy 
affair, and wabbled heavily over the snow. Christian had 
steered a longer course. His breath, too, was gone. He 
let his toboggan slip as he dismounted, and it dashed off 
riderless down to a small frozen lake by the moraine. So 
he got up behind my sledge, and we went in pursuit. 

We returned to the huts to pick up some small posses- 
sions, and at five in the afternoon of that same day we reached 
Davos. We had had a unique experience, and it had been 
acted on a stage worthy of its charm. 

— Margaret Symonds. 



TOBOGGANING BY MOONLIGHT 

The memory of things seen and done in moonlight is like 
the memory of dreams. It is as a dream that I recall the 
night of our tobogganing to Klosters, though it was full 
enough of active energy. The moon was in her second quar- 
ter, slightly filmed with very high, thin clouds, that disap- 
peared as night advanced, leaving the sky and stars in all 
their lustre. A sharp frost, sinking to three degrees above 
zero Fahrenheit, with a fine pure wind, such wind as here 
they call "the mountain breath." We drove to Wolfgang 
in a two-horse sledge, four of us inside, and our two Chris- 
tians on the box. Up there, where the Alps of Death 
descend to join the Lakehorn Alps, above the Wolfswalk, 
there is a world of whiteness — frozen ridges, engraved 
like cameos of aerial onyx upon the dark, star-tremulous 
sky; sculptured buttresses of snow, enclosing hollows 
filled with diaphanous shadows, and sweeping aloft into 
the uplands field of pure clear drift. Then came the swift 
descent, the plunge into the pines, moon-silvered on their 
frosted tops. The battalions of spruce that climb those 
hills defined the dazzling snow from which they sprang, like 
the black tufts upon an ermine robe. At the proper moment 
we left our sledge, and the big Christian took his reins in 
hand to follow us. Furs and greatcoats were abandoned. 
Each stood forth tightly accoutred, with short coat, and 
275 



276 WINTER SPORTS 

clinging cap, and gaitered legs for the toboggan. Off 
we started in line, with but brief interval between, at first 
slowly, then glidingly, and when the impetus was gained, 
with darting, bounding, almost savage swiftness — sweep- 
ing round corners, cutting the hard snow path with keen 
runners, avoiding the deep ruts, trusting to chance, taking 
advantage of smooth places, till the rush and swing and 
downward swoop became mechanical. Space was devoured. 
Into the massy shadows of the forest, where the pines joined 
overhead, we pierced without a sound, and felt far more 
than saw the great rocks with their icicles ; and out again, 
emerging into moonlight, met the valley spread beneath 
our feet, the mighty peaks of the Silvretta and the vast 
blue sky. On, on, hurrying, delaying not, the woods and 
hills rushed by. Crystals upon the snowbanks glittered 
to the stars. Our souls would fain have stayed to drink 
these marvels of the moon-world, but our limbs refused. 
The magic of movement was upon us, and seven minutes 
swallowed the varying impressions of two musical miles. 
The village lights drew near and nearer, then the sombre 
village huts, and soon the speed grew less, and soon we 
glided to our rest into the sleeping village street. 

It was just past midnight. The moon had fallen to the 
western horns. Orion's belt lay bar-like on the opening of 
the pass, and Sirius showed flame on the Seehorn. A more 
crystalline light, more full of fulgent stars, was never seen; 
stars everywhere, but mostly scattered in large sparkles on 
the snow. Big Christian went in front, tugging toboggans 
by their strings, as Gulliver, in some old woodcut, drew 
the fleets of Lilliput. Through the brown wood chalets of 
Selfrangr, up to the undulating meadows, where the snow 



TOBOGGANING BY MOONLIGHT 277 

slept pure and crisp, he led us. There we sat awhile, and 
drank the clear air, cooled to zero, but innocent and mild 
as mother Nature's milk. Then in an instant, down, down 
through the hamlet, with its chalets, stables, pumps, and 
logs, the slumbrous hamlet, where one dog barked, 
and darkness dwelt upon the path of ice, down with 
the tempest of a dreadful speed, that shot each rider 
upward in the air, and made the frame of the toboggan 
tremble — down over hillocks of hard frozen snow, dashing 
and bounding, to the river and the bridge. No bones were 
broken, though the race was thrice renewed, and men were 
spilt upon the roadside by some furious plunge. This 
amusement has the charm of peril and the unforeseen. 
In no wise else can colder, keener air be drunken at such 
furious speed. The joy, too, of the engine-driver and the 
steeplechaser is upon us. Alas, that it should be so short I 
If only roads were better made for the purpose, there 
would be no end to it; for the toboggan cannot lose his 
wind. But the good things fail at last, and from the silence 
of the moon we pass into the silence of the fields of sleep. 
— John Addington Symonds. 



SHIPS OF THE NORTH 

Light graceful clouds across the sky 

Are scudding swift to-night ; 
But fleeter than yon gauze on high 
Can flaunt before the moon's full eye 

Our craft career their flight. 

Bold privateers, they hurry o'er 

A foamy stretch of sea, 
With cargoes loaded precious more 
Than fabled stone on ocean floor 

Or wealth of Araby. 

Out in the stilly atmosphere 

From their gay decks are flung 
The healthy laugh, the ringing cheer, 
The mirthful notes, full, sweet, and clear, 

That fall from Beauty's tongue. 

Adown the long inclines they glide, 

And over fields below, 
Trim vessels with the wind allied, 
The playthings of our northern pride, — 

Toboggans o'er the snow. 

— William T. Allison. 

By permission from Outing magazine. 



278 



SLEIGHING 

KING WINTER IN HIS CITY HOME 

Here is Quebec in winter ! Sleighs, sleighs, sleighs 
everywhere. Here is a long, low delivery sled with a high 
box ; there is a baker's sleigh. Here is one of rough boards 
for drawing wood. There is a funny little thing with hopper 
box for hauling away snow from banked-up curve and 
drifted alleyway. . . . Everywhere the jingle of bells 
goes merrily on, and everywhere are the marks of winter. 
Here are half a dozen soldiers from the garrison clad in 
the regiment's furs. There is a policeman, belted and 
padded like a Russian. Yonder is a group of children 
with low, short sleds. Dressed for winter — fur-capped, 
bright sashed, with pretty buckskin moccasins over their 
warm red woollen stockings — they tumble in the snow and 
lose themselves in the banks as though Quebec were Coney 
Island and snow-drifts were ocean surf. This might be 
Russia or Sweden so far as furs and sleigh-bells, ice and 
snow-drifts go. . . . Go out upon a country road to the 
eastward and you will meet an Indian or a half-breed, with a 
little sledge drawn by dogs. Stand down about the markets 
and watch the farmers bringing in their produce. There 
are sleighs that range from the days when Napoleon was 
young to the present. Or better still, stand upon the Grande 
Allee when the moon has risen and watch the passing throng 
of sleighing parties. 

279 



2 8o WINTER SPORTS 

The cariole, its low box filled with furs, is the favorite 
sleigh. But here and there you catch glimpses of the 
old order. For Quebec is a conservative town, and her old 
families are as proud of their ancient origin as of their 
present culture. And where there is pride in an old order 
of things there will be ancient relics. So it comes that many 
a descendant of some distinguished seigneur of Champlain's 
day has, stored away in his stable, a sleigh of ancient France 
or one of a pattern copied from St. Petersburg or Stockholm 
or Switzerland, perhaps. These on frolic occasions are 
brought forth, and if you watch the drivers dashing merrily 
along Grande Allee you will catch glimpses of Frontenac's 
Quebec, and Peter's Moscow, mingling with twentieth cen- 
tury Canada. 

The sleighing does not stop with the Grande Allee, nor 
the Plains of Abraham, nor with Lower town. Out upon 
the country roads go the carioles — out — out — out. 
Now a hill — almost a mountain — rises on the left, and 
now again the St. Lawrence spreads out along the right. 
Eastward a party goes, and eight miles out from the citadel 
gate brings up before the little hotel at Montmorency 
Falls. . . . 

All are not sleighing to-night. Back in the city, on foot, 
by car, and by cariole, you see men and women — athletes 
every one of them — hurrying to a rendezvous. They 
are clad in gay suits of many-colored blanket material. 
They are members of Quebec's snow-shoe clubs. . . . 
When all are present, away they go from the meeting-place. 
Out past the city's gates they march ; they strike the drifted 
fields or forests and swing away with the self-reliant stride 
of the veteran snow-shoer. They tramp perhaps half a 



KING WINTER IN HIS CITY HOME 281 

dozen miles. Then comes tea-drinking at some inn or 
farm-house, and a return through the same stinging, spur- 
ring, intoxicating winter air. . . . 

But it matters not what may be our point of view. 
Whether we stand within the rink to hear the click of skates 
and shouts of skaters, or go out on the streets, where sleigh- 
bells jingle and the bright snow crackles, or stand where 
the cruel old stone walls of the citadel meet the historic 
plains; whether we look down at the sparkling drifts or 
up at the burning stars, back at the city's lights, or away 
toward the freezing river, we see winter, we feel winter, 
and we bow to him as king. But now we know him for 
a very merry monarch who fills our hearts with song and 
laughter, as well as a very earnest one who inspires us to 
feats of strength and courage and floods our souls with the 

longings of chivalry. 

— Leon Vandervort. 

By permission of the Outing magazine. 



THE CARIOLE OF THE PROVINCES 

The French Canadian habitant is poverty-stricken who 
does not own at least one horse, which, like himself, works 
on the farm in summer and takes its playtime upon the 
winter roads. . . . 

The carioles of this province (Quebec) are low-set, upon 
short, broad runners that prevent the body of the sleigh 
from sinking in deep snow. The horse is harnessed directly 
in front, and if two are to be driven, they are generally 
placed tandem on account of the narrowness of the beaten 
track. Divergence to the right hand or the left may mean 
a plunge into drifted depths and a floundering out again. 
Sleigh-riding in one of the high-set, bare-backed skeletons 
prevalent in northern New York is a slow-freezing process 
compared to being tucked into a cariole that has a layer of 
straw at the bottom, a blanket to sit upon, another to 
envelop the passenger, and two fur robes, one for the 
knees and one hanging over the high back, almost touch- 
ing the snowy road behind. T TX , , T 

— J. H. McIlwraith. 



THE WHITE CARNIVAL 

The best city sleighing in the world is to be had in — 

You were going to say Montreal or St. Petersburg, and 
I assure you, you would have been in error. 

The prettiest sleighing in the world is to be seen in New 
York and Paris. The reason is plain as a pikestaff. In 
St. Petersburg, for instance, sleighing is as much a daily need 
as bread and butter. It is neither a sport nor a pastime. 
It is simply a way of getting about. Ivan sledges to market 
just as the Grand Duke sledges to his club. 'Tis a common 
thing — as quotidian as a Harlem cable-car, and surely, 
as Tom Hood's disgruntled maiden said, " There 's no 
romance in that." Up in Montreal sleighing is as much a 
part of daily life as warm blankets or a mustard foot-bath. 
It is not a sport. It is not a pastime. He of Manitoba 
who hooks up his little Shaginappi pomes for an outgoing 
on the snow-blinded trail is not looking for pleasure. In 
other words, where a means of getting about is an every- 
day necessity, it is never elevated to the dignity of a sport 
and is, therefore, never furbelowed as a pleasure should be. 

In New York the sleighing season is short, uncertain, 
and fugitive. It is like the carnival. It is looked forward 
to, and when it comes, the very hours of it are counted. 
Into the space of a few weeks all the excitement, joy, and 
outdoor riot of a whole winter must be packed. 
283 



284 WINTER SPORTS 

And so when the Manitoban mother of cold snaps does 
her duty — when the snow flutters down from the broad 
wings of the north wind — when the white carpet is 
spread from Fifty-ninth Street to the Harlem, it is carni- 
val-tide in New York. 

Do you know the White Carnival of New York ? 

This year it came upon a Sunday. The night had been 
windy and cold. By midnight, a fine, thin, hard-frozen 
snow was falling ; it came down hour after hour, drifting 
a bit, but spreading withal a good, white blanket over the 
avenues and parks. About dawn the flakes became heavier, 
and the snow packed well. By first-breakfast time the 
streets were well-mattressed with two layers of snow that 
the sun was rapidly packing into a perfect frozen roadway ; 
by ten o'clock there was a road of snow, smooth as asphalt, 
that ran out Fifth Avenue, through the Park, along Seventh 
Avenue — to the Speedway, to the Harlem, to the old 
Post Road, whither you would. And New York woke up 
and took notice. I was abroad myself at that hour (being 
on my way to church), and I saw it wake up and take 
notice. It was as though Aladdin had rubbed his lamp. 
It was as though some spangled princess of fairy-land had 
waved her wand. Fifth Avenue — that sedate Sunday 
thoroughfare — was a carnival highway. It was a stream 
of color and contrast and character. It was a riot of high- 
steppers and slim, gilt sleighs, of tossing plumes and 
jingling bells, of furred women and frozen flunkies. 

Now, mark you, society had waited for this day. Every 
preparation had been made. The sleighs stood ready 
polished ; the plumes had been combed out in expectation 
of the day — the silver bells were duly tuned in fifths ; 



THE WHITE CARNIVAL 285 

the coachman and footboy had shaken the moth balls out 
of their fur caps; everything was ready and when our 
Manitoban mother of snow gave the signal, the parade 
started at once. 

In Paris the White Carnival lasts not nearly so long as it 
does in New York. For this very reason, perhaps — 
because it must be condensed into a few hurried days — it 
takes on even a gayer air, and becomes more carnivalesque. 
Last year we had five days of it, but even these days were 
fragmentary and scattered. Within a few hours the sun 
that smiled out of the blue Parisian sky would kill as fine a 
snow-road as heart could desire. So was it that we fought, 
not for days, but for hours. The rarer the pleasure the 
keener it is. 

He who puts ten or twenty thousand francs into a sleigh- 
ing rig has a right to seize the flying moment and take his 
pleasure flamboyantly. And your Parisian does. When 
he goes sleighing, 'tis somewhat as the frog who would 
a- wooing go. The sleighing parade that passes from the Arc 
de Triomphe along the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne into 
the twining alleys of the Bois is so charmingly symmetrical 
and so theatrically effective that it might have been stage- 
managed by David Belasco himself. Passes then the 
Dowager's brougham on runners — coat-of-arms on the 
panel, fat, clean-shaven coachman on the box in blue and 
silver, fat boys jogging on in their bells ; passes the Diva, 
from what opera house I know not — her sleigh is a white 
swan, with prettily crested neck ; the horse, in his harness 
of white leather and silver is white as the swan; and the 
Diva is a white-faced thing in white furs — and she passes, 
questing what Lohengrin I care not. Family sleighs go 



286 WINTER SPORTS 

by, with red plumes nodding. Yonder comes a gilt boat, 
swarmed over with gilt cupids. Very naked the plump 
cupids look in the wintry air. She who sits on the gilt 
boat and drives the fidgety pair of Belgian hackneys is a 
New York girl who has married into one of the oldest fam- 
ilies in France. And the gilt tub is an heirloom. It was 
driven over the snowy roads at Versailles in the days of 
Louis Seize. It was brought out again at Napoleon's 
winter fetes. Now, new-gilded, it spins along in the parade 
of the Third Republic's fashionable mob. 

That is what fashion has decreed in these hopelessly 
democratic days yonder in Paris. It is no longer smart to 
go abroad in the latest thing from the swagger coach-maker 
of the Champs Elysees. Just as old furniture is the thing 
and old tapestry ; just as the right kind of girl dances only 
in the old family laces and the old family jewels ; so your 
real aristocrat goes forth to the White Carnival in the hered- 
itary sleigh. And all this lends a rare picturesqueness to the 
fugitive hours of Parisian snow-driving. There is more 
fantasy in it than one sees in New York. Folk who had 
no grandfathers, or whose grandfathers did not have sleighs, 
imitate the antique thing as best they can. Thus you see 
many a pretty fancy in sleigh-making. I remember one 
that passed last year in the Bois, the steel-shod runners of 
which were bronze, fashioned like the antlers of a stag, and 
the body was mere boards, covered with a trailing deer- 
skin. And then (perhaps because France loves her Rus- 
sian ally just at present) there were dozens of Russian rigs — 
three-a-breast, a trotter in the middle, checked high, and a 
galloping nag on either side. To this limit and a bit 
further, fantasy runs in Paris when the casual snow falls 



THE WHITE CARNIVAL 287 

and society goes a-carnivaling. 'Twould be pleasant to 
see New York adopt a trifle of this pompous levity. We 
lack theatricalism. We go in for speed, but not for show. 
The uneasy ghost of Gabe Case still hovers over the sleigh- 
men of Manhattan. They still race wilfully for the magnum 
of champagne, and beside them, as they go, race the spirits 
of W. H. Vanderbilt and Robert Bonner — driving the 
wraith of Maud S. The sleighing parade in New York 
should be the blithest and richest pageant in the world; 
and some day it will be. And in that promised day we 
shall see more variety — gayer sleighs, in the designing of 
which the artist has had a word to say ; more tandems, more 
four-in-hands, more three-a-breasts ; in a word, a little 
more originality and a great deal more opulence. As it is 
the New York sleighing pageant is second — and not a very 
good second at that — to the fleeting carnival of Paris. 

— Vance Thompson. 

By permission of the Outing magazine. 



SLEDGING ON THE NEVSKY PROSPEKT IN 
WINTER 

It is curious to observe how many opinions exist as to the 
weather of Peter's city. The officers leave their ears un- 
protected ; passing troop of soldiers — fine, large, hardy 
fellows — wear the strip of black woollen over their ears, 
but leave their bashlyks hanging unused on their backs, 
with tabs tucked neatly under shoulder-straps and 
belts, for use in the Balkans or some other really cold 
spot. Most of the ladies, either on foot or in sledges, wear 
bashlyks or Orenburg shawls over wadded fur caps, well 
pulled down to the brows. . . . 

The head of the fashionable coachman is crowned with 
a becoming gold-laced cap, in the shape of the ace of dia- 
monds, well stuffed with down, and made of scarlet, sky- 
blue, sea-green, or other hue of velvet. His fur-lined ar- 
myak, reaching to his feet, — through whose silver buttons 
under the left arm he is bursting with pads for fashion or 
with good living, — is secured about his portly waist by a 
silken girdle glowing with roses and butterflies. His legs 
are too fat to enter the sledges, — that is, if his master 
truly respects his own dignity, — and his feet are accommo- 
dated in iron stirrups outside. He leans well back with 
arms outstretched to accord with the racing speed at which 
he drives. In the tiny sledge — the smaller it is the more 
288 



^ 




, %. 



SLEDGING ON THE NEVSKY PROSPEKT 289 

stylish, in inverse ratio to the coachman who is expected to be 
as broad as it is — sits a lady hugging her crimson velvet 
shtiba, lined with curled white Thibetan goat, or feathery 
black fox fur, close about her ears. An officer holds her 
firmly with one arm around the waist, a very necessary 
precaution at all seasons, with the fast driving, where 
droshkies and sledges are utterly devoid of back or side 
rail. The spans of huge Orloff stallions, black or dappled 
gray, display their full beauty of form in the harnesses of 
slender straps and silver chains; their beautiful eyes are 
unconcealed by blinders. They are covered with a coarse- 
meshed woollen net fastened to the winged dashboard, black, 
crimson, purple, or blue, which trails in the snow in com- 
pany with their tails, and the heavy tassels of the fur-edged 
cloth robe. The horses, the wide-spreading reddish beard 
of the coachman parted in the middle like a well-worn 
whisk broom, the hair, eyelashes, and furs of the occupants 
of the sledge, all are frosted with rime until each filament 
seems to have been turned into silver wire. . . . 

Court carriages with lackeys in crimson and gold, am- 
bassadors' sledges with cock-plumed chasseurs and cock- 
adee coachmen, the latter wearing their chevrons on their 
backs; rude wooden sledges, whose sides are made of 
knotted ropes, filled with superfluous snow, grand ducal 
troikas with clinging harnesses studded with metal plaques 
and flying tassels, the outer horses coquetting, as usual, 
beside the staid trot of the shaft horses, — all mingle in the 
endless procession which flows on up the Nevsky Prospekt 
and out upon the Neva quays, and back again, to see and 
be seen, until long after the sun has set on the short days 
at six minutes to three. A plain sledge approaches. The 



2 9 o WINTER SPORTS 

officer who occupies it is dressed like an ordinary general, 
and there are thousands of generals ! As he drives quietly 
along, police and sentries give him the salute of the or- 
dinary general ; so do those who recognize him by his face 
or his Kazak orderly. It is the Emperor out for his after- 
noon exercise. If we meet him near the gate of the Anitch- 
koff Palace, we may find him sitting placidly beside us, while 
our sledge and other sledges in the line are stopped for a 
moment to allow him to enter. 

Here is another sledge, also differing in no respect from 
the equipages of other people, save that the lackey on the 
low knife-board behind wears a peculiar livery of dark 
green, pale blue, and gold (or with white in place of the 
green at Eastertide). The lady whose large dark eyes are 
visible between her sable cap and the superb black fox 
shawl of her crimson velvet cloak is the Empress. The 
lady beside her is one of her ladies-in-waiting. Attendants, 
guards, are absolutely lacking, as in the case of the Emperor. 

Here, indeed, is the place to enjoy winter. The dry, 

feathery snow descends, but no one heeds it. We turn up 

our coat collars and drive on. _ _ . _ 

— Isabel F. Hapgood. 

Copyright, 1895, by Isabel F. Hapgood. 

Reprinted by permission of the author and of Charles Scribner's Sons. 



THE SLEDGES OF MOSCOW 

Russia in the summer is no more like Russia in the winter 
than a camp in time of peace is like a camp in the presence 
of the enemy. 

There are generally at least two heavy snow-storms by 
way of warning before winter fairly commences its reign. 
The first fall of snow thaws perhaps a few days afterwards, 
the second in about a week, the third in five months. If a 
lady drops her bracelet or brooch in the street during the 
period of this third fall, she need not trouble herself to put 
out handbills offering a reward for its discovery, at all events 
not before the spring ; for it will be preserved in its hiding- 
place as well as ice can preserve it until about the middle 
of April, when, if the amount of the reward be greater than 
the value of the article lost, it will in all probability be re- 
stored to her. The Russians put on their furs at the first 
signs of winter, and the sledges make their appearance in 
the streets as soon as the snow is an inch or two thick. Of 
course at such a time a sledge is far from possessing any 
advantage over a carriage on wheels ; but the Russians wel- 
come their appearance with so much enthusiasm, that the 
first sledge-drivers are sure of excellent receipts for several 
days. The droshkies disappear one by one with the black 
of autumn; by the time the gilt cupolas of the churches, 
and the red and green roofs of the houses, have been made 
whiter than their own walls, the city swarms with sledges. 
It is not, however, until near Christmas, when the " frost 
291 



2 9 2 WINTER SPORTS 

of St. Nicholas" sets in, that they are seen in all their 
glory. The earlier frosts of October and November may 
or may not be attended to without any very dangerous 
results ensuing ; but when the frigid St. Nicholas makes his 
appearance, — staying the most rapid currents, forming 
bridges over the broadest rivers, and converting seas into 
deserts of ice, — then a blast from his breath, if not prop- 
erly guarded against, may prove fatal. 

It has been said that it is not until the Nikolskoi Maros, 
or frost of St. Nicholas, that the sledges fly through the 
streets in all their glory. By that time the rich "boyars" 
(as foreigners persist in styling the Russian proprietors of 
the present day) have arrived from their estates, and the 
poor peasants, who have long ceased to till the ground, and 
have now thrashed all the corn, begin to come in from theirs ; 
for humble and dependent as he may be, each peasant has 
nevertheless his own patch of land. For the former are the 
elegant sledges of polished nut-wood, with rugs of soft, 
thick fur to protect the legs of the occupants, whose drivers, 
in their green caftans fastened round the waist with red 
sashes, and in their square, thickly wadded caps of crimson 
velvet, like sofa-cushions, urge on the prodigiously fast- 
trotting horses, at the same time throwing themselves back 
in their seats with outstretched arms and tightened reins, 
as though the animals were madly endeavoring to escape 
from their control. The latter bring with them certain 
strongly made wooden boxes, with a seat at the back for 
two passengers and a perch in front for a driver. These 
boxes are put upon rails, and called sledges. The bottom 
of each box (or sledge) is plentifully strewn with hay, 
which after a few days becomes converted, by means of 



THE SLEDGES OF MOSCOW 293 

snow and dirty galoshes, into something very like manure. 
The driver is immediately in front of you, with his brass 
badge hanging on his back like the label on a box of sardines. 
He wears a sheepskin ; but it is notorious that after ten 
years' wear the sheepskin loses its odor, besides which it is 
winter, so that your sense of smell has really nothing to fear. 
The one thing necessary is to keep your legs to yourself, 
or at all events not to obtrude them beneath the perch of 
the driver, or you will run the chance of having your foot 
crushed by that gentleman's heel. Sometimes the horse is 
fresh from the plough, and requires a most vigorous appli- 
cation of the driver's thong to induce him to quit his ac- 
customed pace ; but for the most part the animals are 
willing enough, and as rapid as their masters are skilful. 
The driver is generally much attached to his horse, whom 
he affectionately styles his "dove" or his " pigeon," assur- 
ing him that though the ground is covered with snow there 
is still grass in the stable for his galoupchik, as the favorite 
bird is called, etc., etc. 

As for the real pigeons and doves, they are to be found 
everywhere, — on the belfries of the churches, in the court- 
yards of the houses, in the streets, blocking up the pave- 
ment, and above all, beneath the projecting edges of the 
roofs, where you may see them clustering in long, deep 
lines, like black cornices. 

At home we associate snow with darkness and gloom; 
but when once the snow has fallen, the sky of Moscow 
is as bright and blue as that of Italy; the atmosphere 
is clear and pure; the sun shines for several hours in 
the day with a brightness from which the reflection 
of the snow becomes perfectly dazzling; and if the frost 



294 WINTER SPORTS 

be intense, there is not a breath of wind. The breath 
that really does attract your notice is that of pedestrians, 
who appear to be blowing forth columns of smoke or steam 
into the rarefied atmosphere, and who look like so many 
walking chimneys or human locomotives. And if breath 
looks like smoke, smoke itself looks almost solid. . . . 

The most pleasant time of the whole winter is during the 
moonlight nights when the wind is still and the snow deep 
on the ground. In the streets the sparkling trottoir, which 
appears literally paved with diamonds, is as hard as the 
agate floor of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the 
Kremlin. In the country, where alone you can enjoy the 
night in all its beauty, the frozen surface crunches, but 
scarcely sinks, beneath the sledge, as your troika tears 
along the road as fast as the centre horse can trot and the 
two outsiders gallop. For it is a peculiarity of the troika 
that the three horses that constitute it are harnessed abreast ; 
and that while the one in the shafts, whose head is upheld 
by a bow, with a little bell suspended from the top, is 
trained to trot and never to leave that pace, however fast 
he may be driven, the two who are harnessed outside must 
gallop, even if they gallop but six miles an hour; though 
it is far more likely that they will be called upon to do 
twelve. Lastly, the troika must present a fanlike front; 
to produce which the driver tightens the outside reins till 
the heads of the outriggers stand out at an angle of forty or 
fifty degrees from that of the horse in the shafts. At the 
same time the centre horse trots with his head high in the 
air, while the other two, who have their existences devoted 
to galloping, have their noses depressed toward the ground, 
like bulls running at a dog. 




SLEDGING WITH THE "PRISTYAZHKA" OR SIDE HORSE. 



THE SLEDGES OF MOSCOW 295 

There may be enough moonlight to read by when the 
moon itself is obscured by clouds. But if it shines directly 
on the ermine-like snow, which covers the vast plains like 
an interminable carpet, the atmosphere becomes full of 
light, and the night in its brightness, its solitude, and its 
silence, broken only by the bells of some distant team, re- 
minds you of the calmness of an unusually quiet and beau- 
tiful day. As you turn away from the main road toward 
the woods, you pass groups of tall slender birch trees, with 
their white silvery bark, and their delicate, threadlike 
fibres hanging in frozen showers from the ends of the 
branches, and clothing the birch with a kind of icy foliage, 
while the other trees remain bare and ragged. The birch 
is eminently a winter tree, and its tresses of fibres, whether 
petrified and covered with crystal by the frost, or waving 
freely in the breeze which has stripped them of their snow, 
are equally ornamental. The ground is strewed with the 
shadows of the trees, traced with exquisite fineness on the 
white snow, from which these lunar photographs stand forth 
with wonderful distinctness. To drive out with an indefi- 
nite number of troikas to some village in the environs, or 
to the first station on one of the Government roads, is a 
common mode of spending a fine winter's night, and one 
which is equally popular in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 
These excursions, which always partake more or less of the 
nature of a picnic, form one of the chief pleasures of the 
cold season. Of course such expeditions also take place 
during the day, but, whatever the hour of departure, if 
there happen to be a moon that night, the return is sure not 
to take place before it has made its appearance. 

— H. Sutherland Edwards. 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 

Behold us starting for our thirteen hours' sleighing 
journey, wrapped from head to foot in furs ! It is about 
half -past six on a cold gray morning, the thermometer stand- 
ing at three degrees Fahrenheit, a sombre canopy of mist 
threatening snow, and the blue-nosed servants of the water- 
ing-place torpidly shivering back to their daily labors like 
congealed snakes. Davos-Platz does not look attractive 
at this hour of a winter morning, when the chimneys of the 
big hotels and bakehouses are pouring forth spirals of 
tawny smoke, which the frozen air repels and forces back 
to blend with vapors lying low along the stream. Tearing 
through the main street on such occasions, I always wonder 
how long what boasts to be a "Luft kur-ort," or health resort, 
depending on the purity of air for its existence, will bear 
the strain of popularity and rapid increase. 

As we break away into the open country these gloomy 
thoughts are dispelled. For now the sun, rising behind 
the mountains of Sertig in gold and crimson, scatters the 
mist and gives the promise of a glorious day. Spires and 
pinnacles of burnished silver smite the flawless blue of 
heaven. The vapor clinging to their flanks and forests 
melts imperceptibly into amber haze ; and here and there 
broad stripes of dazzling sunlight turn the undulating 
snow-fields round our path to sheets of argent mail, thickly 
296 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 297 

studded with diamonds — crystals of the night. Every 
leafless larch or alder by the stream-bed is incrusted with 
sparkling frost-jewels, and the torrents, hurrying to the 
Rhine, chafe and foam against gigantic masses of gray-green 
ice, lipped with fantastically curving snow-wreaths. We 
are launched on the intoxication of a day-long sledge drive. 
Hour after hour passes with no change but the change of 
postilions and horses, occasional halts at wayside inns, and 
the ever varying pageant of the frozen landscape unrolled 
around us. . . . 

The snow-tracks which cross the higher passes are very 
narrow ; and for this reason little low open sledges drawn by 
one horse are commonly employed. The sledge is a box, 
shaped somewhat like a car in a merry-go-round, into which 
a pair of travellers are shut by means of a wooden frame or 
lid moving up and down on hinges. This lid rises to the 
breast of a seated person, and protects his legs from falling 
snow. The upper part of his body is exposed. When the 
sledge upsets, which is not unfrequently the case, the whole 
falls quietly upon one side, and discharges its contents. The 
wooden frame or lid, being movable upon its hinges, en- 
ables a man to disengage himself without difficulty. The 
driver stands upon a ledge behind, passing the reins between 
the shoulders of the passengers. There are no springs to 
the vehicle, which bumps and thumps solidly in the troughs 
of the road, dispelling all illusions as to the facile motion of 
a sledge. If it is needful to pass another vehicle, the horse 
plunges up to his belly in soft snow upon one side, then 
struggles furiously, gains his feet, and lifts the sledge with 
quick spasmodic effort to the beaten track again. These 
sledges carry no luggage. A second horse is used, who 



298 WINTER SPORTS 

follows close behind, and draws a truck on ruiiners laden 
with all kinds of baggage. He has no driver; and the 
result is that these luggage sledges frequently upset. It 
is always safest to travel with the post in winter, because 
the horses know each yard of the road from one stage to 
another. But a nervous traveller may even thus be exposed 
to trials of his courage ; for economy makes the postmaster 
provide the smallest possible number of postilions, and pas- 
sengers are sometimes sent across a mountain in a sledge with- 
out a driver, following the sledge in front. I once crossed the 
Julier in a dark night of January, without a postilion and 
without any reins to guide the horse by. My reason told 
me that the beast knew his business better than I did. 
But, none the less, I felt forlornly helpless when he was 
floundering about in depths of snow I could not realize. 
It is always best to take things as they come, however; 
and I comforted myself by reflecting that even an Eng- 
lishman is a parcel which postmasters are bound to deliver 
safely at its destination. 

Some of the pleasantest days of my life have been spent 
in these post-sledges on the passes of Graubunden. The 
glory of unclouded sunlight, the grimness of storm, and the 
mystery of midnight among the peaks of Albula, Fluela- 
Julier, Bernina, Maloja, Splugen, Bernhardin, are known to 
me through them. They are not luxurious ; but I can recom- 
mend them with authority in preference to the stuffy, top- 
heavy, closed carriages on runners which the inexperience 
of foreigners is now bringing into fashion. Though I have 
been out in very bad weather in these open sledges I never 
took any harm. The following notes of a day's journey 
on March 13, 1888, show that the risk of catching cold may 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 299 

be considerable ; yet I would back myself to catch cold in 
a German or Swiss railway-carriage more easily at the 
same season of the year. U I drove in an open sledge from 
Landquart to Davos, about nine hours, while it snowed in- 
cessantly, thick, wet snow, very soft and sweet to breathe 
in, lovely on the woods of beech and pine, fantastic on the 
blue-green frozen cataracts. A dreamy day of long, gray, 
pearly distances, snow-laden orchards, hamlets slumbering 
in snow, and tall fir forests drooping their snow-laden 
branches over me. My outer garments were soaking wet ; 
fur cap and hair too. When we reached Laret, these wet 
things began to freeze. When we reached Wolfgang, a 
mighty blast tore snow from the meadows and whirled it 
round us, chilling me to the marrow. When we arrived 
at Davos-Dorfli, I was harnessed in solid mail of ice, and 
my forehead bristled with icicles." 

In the winter of 1887-1888 I undertook many short 
journeys with the view of inspecting the unusual phenom- 
ena of avalanches. The most interesting of these was the 
last, when I left Davos with one of my daughters for Italy 
by the routes of Landwasser, Julier, and Maloja. We set 
off at 6 a.m., under a clear, frosty sky, upon April 5. Owing 
to Form- wind and constant traffic the snow-road was broken 
into deep ruts and holes, which made our sledges leap, 
jump, bump, buck, lurch, and thud in ways quite inde- 
scribable to those who nave not experienced the process. 
The luggage-sledge behind upset three times in the course 
of the first five miles. I have seen nothing in the Alps 
which impressed me so strongly with the force — the cruel, 
blind force of nature — as the aspect of the Zxige on 
that April morning. Avalanche upon avalanche had been 



3 oo WINTER SPORTS 

pouring down into the valley from 3000 feet above. The 
stream was buried beneath Staub-Lawinen, Schlag-Lawi- 
nen, Grund-Lawinen, to the depth of scores of feet. Here 
and there the torrent burst with clamorous roar from the 
jaws of one dark icy cavern only to plunge again into the 
silence and the blackness of another yawning mass of des- 
olation. Millions of tons of snow, of uprooted rocks, and 
of mangled forests were lying huddled together, left to rot 
beneath the fretting influence of rain or south winds, slowly 
losing dignity of outline and substance in a blur of mottled, 
besmirched, pitted hideousness. Here there was a tunnel 
in the cliff, festooned with frozen stalactites, and clogged 
with the debris of ice dislodged by its own weight from the 
dripping roof. There the walls of marble snow, where ex- 
cavation had been made in avalanches, rose to a height of 
twenty feet above our heads. Next came a horrid Grund- 
Lawine, filthy, cynical, with its wreck of stones and rubble, 
gnawed stems, shattered parapets, and snapped telegraph- 
posts. Over these we had to crawl as well as we could ; the 
horses could only just contrive to get across the ridged 
deluge, climbing and descending, climbing and descending, 
on narrow tracks delved by the road-makers. These tracks 
are encumbered with enormous blocks of limestone and 
round boulders, which fall independently of avalanches 
from the scars left by avalanches on the heights above. 
And always rocks rolling in the ravines with a sullen roar ; 
always the snow-slips shifting on the cliffs around us ; al- 
ways, from time to time, the sullen clamor of the mad- 
dened torrent as it leapt from one black cavern to another. 
There are several tunnels pierced in the living rock, and 
just before the mouth of the last of these, a Grund-Lawine 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 301 

had fallen two hours earlier. It had carried away the road 
and parapets, depositing a sharply inclined slope of snow 
and dirty debris in their place. This we clambered over 
as well as we could, on foot. The horses, helped by their 
brawny drivers, had great difficulty in dragging the sledges 
across its uneven treacherous slope, which extended in a 
straight line to the stream-bed twenty yards below. The 
whole ravine left a sad and horrifying impression of mere 
ruin on the mind — nature-forces spending themselves in 
waste, acting now as they have acted for past millions of 
years, blindly clashing together, apparently with no result 
except destruction, certainly with no regard for man's con- 
venience, and still more certainly with serious imperilment 
to human life. Yet we must not forget that these deluges 
of snow have their beneficent aspect. By relieving the 
upper regions of the Alps of their accumulated burdens, 
they prevent the snow of exceptional winters from form- 
ing into nevees, which would sooner or later settle down as 
glaciers, covering the central chains, and altering the cli- 
mate of the whole country. 

I was glad to emerge from the Ziige and to gain those 
larch woods on the way to Wiesen, from which a distant 
and glorious prospect may be enjoyed of the pure moun- 
tain summits glittering in morning light. To think that 
those calm tracts of silver snow, so exquisitely moulded 
into peaks and " finely pencilled valleys" above their 
sombre pine woods, should be responsible for all the havoc 
and the horror of the Ziige ! 

I shall not dwell upon the next stages of this day's jour- 
ney, which were performed in carriages ; for the snow had 
melted on the post-road from Wiesen to Tiefenkasten and 



3 o2 WINTER SPORTS 

halfway up the Julier. The evidences of damage caused 
by avalanches were interesting, but need not be recorded. 
It began to snow when we approached the village of 
Schweiningen. Enormous flakes swirled lazily and heavily 
through still, gray air. As I caught them against the black- 
ness of the pine woods, they looked like a countless multi- 
tude of Apollo butterflies. The flakes were hardly less in 
size, and had the same clumsy, helpless flight. From this 
time forward snow fell more or less continuously till the end 
of our long , journey. Just below Miihlen we crossed an 
avalanche, which had cut its track out of a forest of young 
pines and larches. The section through which we passed 
revealed on both sides a compact mass of stems, sawn 
through to make the road. There was more of solid wood 
than snow, and the damage must have been mainly caused 
by the Lawinen-Dunst. 

At Miihlen we had to take an open sledge again. Here, 
as the day was drawing to its close, I doubted whether it 
was prudent to fare forward in the whirling snow. But 
there is fascination in completing journeys once begun ; 
besides, we wished to cross the Julier before the snow could 
mound us up and stop our going. So we called fresh horses, 
and went forth into the twilight. The evening slowly 
dwindled, while we jolted, lunging and lurching, along the 
troughed and deeply cloven road to St alia. Imagination 
quails before those bumps and jumps. They threw the 
horse upon his knees, ourselves upon our faces in the sledge, 
and the driver from his stand behind it. At Stalla there 
was the opportunity again of resting for the night. But 
the same impulse swayed us now as before at Miihlen. 
Our spirits rose, while the sleet fell thickly and the wind 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 303 

wailed grimly, at the thought of threading those mysterious 
snow-ways of the pass in darkness. Onward, then, we 
drove, silencing the postilion, who more than recommended 
the wisdom of a halt. Night closed round, and up we trav- 
elled for two hours, at a foot's pace, turning corners which 
we could not see or feel, exploring trackless wastes of drift, 
with stinging snow-shafts on our faces. The Hospiz was 
reached at last; and here we had a third chance of sus- 
pending our journey and resting for the night. Imagine a 
hut of rough-hewn stone, crowded with burly carters, 
swarming out to greet us by the light of one dim lantern. 
Over the roof of the hovel surged the mounded snow, and 
curved itself in billowy lines of beauty — like the breasts, 
I thought, of Amphitrite's nymphs, as Pheidias might 
have moulded them — above those granite eaves. The 
carters emerged from a cellar, as it seemed, climbing up 
six feet of snow by steps cut out to reach the level of the 
road. As they stood in the doorway, stalwart fellows clad 
in shaggy serge, like bears, the snow-wreaths curling from 
the rafters touched their hairy heads. I had no adverse 
mind to staying there and fraternizing with these comrades 
through a winter's night. Nor did I fear for my daughter's 
comfort. I knew that she would be well ; our beds, though 
cold, would certainly be dry. Winter on the tops of moun- 
tains has this merit, that damp can find no place there. 
And the hearts of mountaineers, beneath their husk of 
roughness, are the hearts of gentlemen. But the impulse 
to fare forward, the dreamlike sense of something to be 
blindly done, the more practical fear that we might be 
snowed up for days in this frost-bound "cave of care," 
bade me order out fresh horses. They were ready at my 



3 o 4 WINTER SPORTS 

call, for we were travelling extra-post, and the telegraph- 
wires, though drowned in snow, discharge their messages. 
I liked the new postilion. I did not fancy the horse which 
was harnessed to our sledge. He was a tall, lean chest- 
nut; and chestnuts, as I know by experience, are apt to 
feel impatient if they get embarrassed in deep snow. As 
the sequel proved, I made a false shot; for this chestnut 
showed himself up to every trick and turning in the road 
we had to follow. Another horse was yoked to the lug- 
gage-sledge behind us, then left to do as best he could, with- 
out a driver — such is the custom on these mountains. 
He did his best by following the beast in front. I cared 
little about luggage at that moment; what I wanted was 
to arrive at Silvaplana safely with my daughter. 

The descent from the Hospiz was grimly solemn and 
impressive. Passing from the friendly light of that one 
stable-lantern, we now entered the dim obscurity of dream- 
land — a mist of whirling snowflakes, driven onward by 
the wind which grew in violence. It is never wholly dark 
upon the snow ; but the lustreless pallor of the untracked 
wilderness, fading off on every side into formless haze, and 
the complete effacement of all objects to which the sight is 
accustomed in these regions, are peculiarly trying to eyes 
and nerves. Here and there we could perceive the tops of 
black stakes and telegraph-posts emerging from the un- 
dulating drift. Here and there for considerable intervals 
they were completely hidden. As these posts average 
thirty feet in height, some conception of the snow-depth 
may be formed. There were also, at times, a faint sug- 
gestion of impending crags and masses of black rock, on this 
hand or on that. Like the hulls of vessels seen through 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 305 

fog at sea, they swam into sight and shrank out of it again 
phantasmally. Nothing more was visible; nothing on 
which the sense of sight could seize for comfort and support. 
The track was obliterated, buried in fresh-fallen snow and 
storm-drift. Everything seemed changing, shifting, yield- 
ing to the uniformity of elemental treacherousness. The 
winter road upon the Julier plunges straight downward, 
cutting across the windings of the summer post-road, which 
lies with all its bridges, barricades, and parapets five fath- 
oms deep below. At one spot, where absolutely nothing 
appeared to indicate the existence of a track, the postil- 
ion muttered in our ears, "Now we must trust to the horse ; 
if he misses, it is over with us — es ist mil uns urn" The 
reins were laid upon the chestnut's shoulders, and he suc- 
ceeded in feeling, scenting out the way. Pausing, sound- 
ing at each step with his fore feet, putting his nose down to 
smell, sometimes hardly stirring, sometimes breaking into 
a trot for a few seconds, then coming to a sudden halt again, 
then moving cautiously as though in doubt, he went, with 
interruptions, forward. The sledge-bells had been left 
behind at the Hospiz for fear of avalanches ; their tinkling 
or the crack of a whip suffices in such weather to dislodge 
a snow-slip. The other horse with the baggage-sledge 
followed behind, attending eagerly to every movement of 
his comrade. And so we passed silently, glidingly, mys- 
teriously downward into the gulf of .utter gloom, without 
making the least sound. The only noise we heard was the 
eldritch shrieking of the wind, and a horrible aeolian music 
from the telegraph-wires close at our ears. We could 
touch these wires with our fingers when they were not 
buried in snow, and they thrilled with a sharp metallic 



3 o6 WINTER SPORTS 

shudder like the voices of banshees or lost wailing women, 
uttering shrill threats and curses, murmuring their drowsy 
runs of doom. Sometimes we ascended avalanches, and 
there there was black vacancy and utter silence — every 
object huddled in ruin, and the path smoothed out by softly 
curving wreaths. The horse was up to his belly in unwrin- 
kled drifts. Only through changes of movement in the 
sledge did we know that we were climbing steeply up or 
plunging perilously down. On' the dizzy top of one of 
these avalanches it happened that the clouds above us 
broke, and far aloft, in a solitary space of sky, the Great 
Bear swam into sight for a few moments. This little star- 
light was enough to reveal the desolation of the place, and 
the yawning chasms on our right and left. I knew by ex- 
perience how narrow, how high-uplifted, is the thread of 
traversable pathway in such passages. A false step to this 
side or to that would plunge us into oceans of soft smother- 
ing snow from which in darkness we could not hope to ex- 
tricate ourselves. Yet the two brave horses kept the track. 
Ursa Major was swallowed up in mist again. The wind 
rallied with fierce clutching grasps, while we cautiously 
descended from the avalanche and resumed what must 
have been the winter road, although we could not see or 
feel it. Just then cembras began to show their dark masses 
on the cliffs, and something more sombre even than the 
night loomed far ahead before us. The cembras told me 
that we were nearing Silvaplana, and the obscurity in front 
must surely be the bulk of the Bernina group beyond the 
Engadine. Courage ! We shall soon be under shelter ! 
But, even as I said these words, the whirlwind scooped the 
snow again in blinding drifts around us, and the telegraph- 



SLEDGE-POSTING IN SWITZERLAND 307 

banshees shrieked with redoubled spitefulness : "Come 
away, come away to us ! Come and be buried as we have 
been ! Come and be dammed in the prisons of frost with 
us ! The wind that makes us croon our weird song shall 
wind the snow-wreaths over you!" That was not to be 
our destiny, however; for, after jolting through another 
avalanche, the excavated walls of which touched our sledges 
on each hand, we made a few sharp turns, saw lights ahead, 
and came lurching into the little street of Silvaplana op- 
posite the hospitable "Wilde Mann." We had been driv- 
ing for fourteen hours over every conceivable kind of road, 
— rough, broken, precipitous, trackless, — and we were 
glad enough to get a late supper and a warm bed. In this 
account of a night passage of the Julier I have not spoken 
about cold or exposure to weather. Indeed, we did not 
think about these things, nor did we suffer from them. Of 
course we were snowed over, and almost throttled some- 
times by the wind. But cold is little felt on mountain 
passes when the air is dry and the traveller wears proper 
clothing. — John Addington Symonds. 



THE NORWEGIAN SMALSLCEDE 

A muffled city is Christiania in winter under the new- 
fallen snow in which the passers-by come and go with the 
uncanny silence of the figures of a moving picture; every 
one is shod with rubber knee-high shoes or even longer 
boots of fur and leather. To a stranger the electric car's 
jangling bell is heard for the first time with a curious sense 
of relief, as the one natural sound in that deadly stillness. 
The aspect of the traffic in the roadways affects the eye with 
a sense of strangeness, too; every vehicle seems strangely 
dwarfed, for the bodies of all carriages, carts, and even 
drays have been lifted from the wheel axles and dropped 
upon runners so low that they almost seem to be sliding 
along the ground. 

From such a city one is glad to escape to the mountain 
forests of the Telemarken in spite of the exclamations of dis- 
mayed acquaintances who all predict a bad end to the 
journey, but are not able to agree as to whether one is to 
be lost in a snow-drift, frozen to death, or devoured by wild 
beasts — hungry bears or prowling wolves. Nevertheless, 
after a none too comfortable ride on the railway, it proved 
to be quite possible, by putting on fur after fur, and being 
wrapped (personal action by this time was quite out of the 
question) in blanket after blanket, to roll into the back 
seat of an all too narrow sleigh. This was drawn by a 
308 



THE NORWEGIAN SMALSLCEDE 309 

sturdy little pony which the driver was supposed to guide, 
but which from the first took the whole matter of going 
or stopping under its own control, and seemed to realize 
that something was due the curiosity of a crazy foreign 
visitor, — else why should he have so obligingly halted to 
give me my first close view of the Norwegian national 
sleigh, as distinctively his as the cariole is the conveyance of 
the Quebec habitant. This smalslcede consists of a skele- 
ton framework in the shape of a pyramid, at the point of 
which perches a bicycle saddle for the driver (also the sole 
passenger) who rests his feet on the runners. An essential 
part of the outfit is the pair of boots which the rider wears, 
of thick fur-lined leather, reaching to the thighs under the 
heavy wolfskin overcoat of the wearer. For stability, 
doubtless, these boots have soles of iron instead of leather. 
In some cases there is under the saddle in the space between 
the spread of the runners a frame for the carrying of the 
smallest possible load of luggage. 

Altogether it was a strange contrivance, but apparently 
in quite general use, for long after we had reached our inn 
above the loveliest lake in Norway, I could look down into 
the snow-covered valley and watch the farmers hurrying 
across the frozen lake upon them toward the tiny wooden 
cottages perched like brown toadstools on the snow-clad 

rocks. 

— Mme. von Thiele. 



BRINGING LORNA HOME 

To my great delight, I found that the weather, not often 
friendly to lovers, and lately seeming so hostile, had in the 
most important matter done me a signal service. For when 
I had promised to take my love from the power of those 
wretches, the Doones, the only way of escape apparent lay 
through the main Doone-gate. For though I might climb 
the cliffs myself, especially with the snow to aid me, I 
durst not try to fetch Lorna up them, even if she were not 
half starved, as well as partly frozen ; and as for Gwenny's 
door, as we called it (that is to say, the little entrance from 
the wooded hollow), it was snowed up long ago to the level 
of the hills around. Therefore I was at my wit's end how 
to get them out ; the passage by the Doone-gate being long 
and dark and difficult, and leading to such a weary circuit 
among the snowy moors and hills. 

But now, being homeward-bound by the shortest pos- 
sible track, I slipped along between the bonfire and the 
boundary cliffs, where I found a caved way of snow behind 
a sort of avalanche : so that if the Doones had been keeping 
watch (which they were not doing, but revelling), they could 
scarcely have discovered me. And when I came to my old 
ascent, where I had often scaled the cliff and made across the 
mountains, it struck me that I would just have a look at 
my first and painful entrance, to wit, the water-slide. I 
310 



BRINGING LORNA HOME 311 

never for a moment imagined that this could help me now ; 
for I never had dared to descend it, even in the finest 
weather; still, I had a curiosity to know what my old 
friend was like, with so much snow upon him. But, to 
my very great surprise, there was scarcely any snow there 
at all, though plenty curling high overhead from the cliff, 
like bolsters over it. Probably the sweeping of the north- 
east wind up the narrow chasm had kept the showers from 
blocking it, although the water had no power under the 
bitter grip of frost. All my water-slide was now less a 
slide than path of ice ; furrowed where the waters ran over 
fluted ridges; seamed where wind had tossed and combed 
them, even while congealing ; and crossed with little steps 
wherever the freezing torrent lingered. And here and 
there the ice was fibred with the trail of sludge-weed, 
slanting from the side and matted, so as to make resting- 
place. 

Lo, it was easy track and channel, as if for the very pur- 
pose made, down which I could guide my sledge withLorna 
sitting in it. There were only two things to be feared : one, 
lest the rolls of snow above should fall in and bury us ; the 
other, lest we should rush too fast, and so be carried head- 
long into the black whirlpool at the bottom, the middle of 
which was still unfrozen, and looking more horrible by the 
contrast. Against this danger I made provision, by fixing 
a stout bar across; but of the other we must take our 
chance, and trust ourselves to Providence. 

I hastened home at my utmost speed, and told my mother 
for God's sake to keep the house up till my return, and to 
have plenty of fire blazing, and plenty of water boiling, and 
food enough hot for a dozen people, and the best bed aired 



3 i2 WINTER SPORTS 

with the warming-pan. Dear mother smiled softly at my 
excitement, though her own was not much less, I am sure, 
and enhanced by sore anxiety. Then I gave very strict 
directions to Annie, and praised her a little, and kissed her ; 
and I even endeavored to natter Eliza, lest she should be 
disagreeable. 

After this I took some brandy, both within and about 
me ; the former, because I had sharp work to do ; and the 
latter, in fear of whatever might happen, in such great cold, 
to my comrades. Also I carried some other provisions, 
grieving much at their coldness; and then I went to the 
upper linhay, and took our new light pony-sled, which had 
been made almost as much for pleasure as for business; 
though God only knows how our girls could have found 
any pleasure in bumping along so. On the snow, how- 
ever, it ran as sweetly as if it had been made for it; 
yet I durst not take the pony with it; in the first place, 
because his hoofs would break through the ever shifting 
surface of the light and piling snow ; and secondly, because 
those ponies, coming from the forest, have a dreadful trick 
of neighing, and most of all in frosty weather. 

Therefore I girded my own body with a dozen turns of 
hay-rope, twisting both the ends in under at the bottom of 
my breast, and winding the hay on the skew a little, that the 
hempen thong might not slip between, and so cut me in the 
drawing. I put a good piece of spare rope in the sled, and 
the cross-seat with the back to it — which was stuffed with 
our own wool — as well as two or three fur coats ; and then, 
just as I was starting, out came Annie, in spite of the cold, 
panting for fear of missing me, and with nothing on her 
head, but a Ian thorn in one hand. 



BRINGING LORNA HOME 313 

"Oh, John, here is the most wonderful thing ! Mother 
has never shown it before ; and I can't think how she could 
make up her mind. She had gotten it in a great well of a 
cupboard, with camphor, and spirits, and lavender. Lizzie 
says it is a most magnificent sealskin cloak, worth fifty 
pounds, or a farthing." 

"At any rate it is soft and warm," said I, very calmly 
flinging it into the bottom of the sled. "Tell mother I will 
put it over Lorna's feet." 

"Lorna's feet! Oh, you great fool," cried Annie, for 
the first time reviling me; "over her shoulders: and be 
proud, you very stupid John." 

"It is not good enough for her feet," I answered, with 
strong emphasis, "but don't tell mother I said so, Annie. 
Only thank her very kindly." 

With that I drew my traces hard, and set my ashen staff 
into the snow, and struck out with my best foot foremost 
(the best one at snow-shoes, I mean), and the sled came 
after me as lightly as a dog might follow ; and Annie, with 
the lanthorn, seemed to be left behind and waiting, like a 
pretty lamp-post. 

The full moon rose as bright behind me as a paten of 
pure silver, casting on the snow long shadows of the few 
things left above, burdened rock, and shaggy foreland, and 
the laboring trees. In the great white desolation distance 
was a mocking vision : hills looked high, and valleys far ; 
when hills were far and valleys nigh. And the misty 
breath of frost, piercing through the ribs of rock, striking 
to the pith of trees, creeping to the heart of man, lay along 
the hollow places, like a serpent sloughing. Even as my 
own gaunt shadow (travestied as if I were the moonlight's 



3 i4 WINTER SPORTS 

daddy-long-legs) went before me down the slope; even I, 
the shadow's master, who had tried in vain to cough, when 
coughing brought good licorice, felt a pressure on my bosom, 
and a husking in my throat. 

However, I went on quietly, and at a very tidy speed, 
being only too thankful that the snow had ceased, and no 
wind as yet arisen. And from the ring of low white vapor 
girding all the verge of sky, and from the rosy blue above, 
and the shafts of starlight set upon a quivering bow, as 
well as from the moon itself and the light behind it, having 
learned the signs of frost from its bitter twinges, I knew 
that we should have a night as keen as ever England felt. 
Nevertheless, I had work enough to keep me warm if I 
managed it. The question was, could I contrive to save 
my darling from it? 

Daring not to risk my sled by any fall from the valley 
cliffs, I dragged it very carefully up the steep incline of ice, 
through the narrow chasm, and so to the very brink and 
verge where first I had seen my Lorna, in the fishing-days 
of boyhood. As then I had a trident fork, for sticking of 
the loaches, so now I had a strong ash-stake, to lay across 
from rock to rock, and break the speed of descending. 
With this I moored the sled quite safe, at the very lip of 
the chasm, where all was now substantial ice, green and 
black in the moonlight ; and then I set off up the valley, 
skirting along one side of it. 

The stack-fire still was burning strongly, but with more 
of heat than blaze ; and many of the younger Doones were 
playing on the verge of it, the children making rings of fire, 
and their mothers watching them. All the grave and 
reverend warriors, having heard of rheumatism, were inside 



BRINGING LORNA HOME 315 

of log and stone, in the two lowest houses, with enough 
of candles burning to make our list of sheep come short. 

All these I passed, without the smallest risk of difficulty. 
And then I crossed, with more of care, and to the door of 
Lorna's house, and made the sign, and listened, after tak- 
ing my snow-shoes off. 

But no one came, as I expected, neither could I espy a 
light. And I seemed to hear a faint, low sound, like the 
moaning of the snow-wind. Then I knocked again more 
loudly, with a knocking at my heart; and receiving no 
answer, set all my power at once against the door. In a mo- 
ment it flew inwards, and I glided along the passage with 
my feet still slippery. There, in Lorna's room, I saw, by the 
moonlight flowing in, a sight which drove me beyond sense. 

Lorna was behind a chair, crouching in the corner, 
with her hands up, and a crucifix, or something that 
looked like it. In the middle of the room lay .Gwenny 
Carfax, stupid, yet with one hand clutching the ankle of a 
struggling man. Another man stood above my Lorna, 
trying to draw the chair away. In a moment I had him 
round the waist, and he went out of the window with a 
mighty crash of glass ; luckily for him that window had 
no bars, like some of them. Then I took the other man by 
the neck ; and he could not plead for mercy. I bore him 
out of the house as lightly as I would bear a baby, yet 
squeezing his throat a little more than I fain would do to an 
infant. By the bright moonlight I saw that I carried Mar- 
wood de Whichehalse. For his father's sake I spared him, 
and because he had been my schoolfellow, but with every 
muscle of my body strung with indignation, I cast him, like 
a skittle, from me into a snow-drift, which closed over him. 



316 WINTER SPORTS 

Then I looked for the other fellow, tossed through Lorna's 
window; and found him lying stunned and bleeding, 
neither able to groan yet — Charleworth Doone, if his 
gushing blood did not much mislead me. 

It was no time to linger now : I fastened my shoes in a 
moment, and caught up my own darling with her head 
upon my shoulder, where she whispered faintly ; and tell- 
ing Gwenny to follow me, or else I would come back for 
her, if she could not walk the snow, I ran the whole dis- 
tance to my sled, caring not who might follow me. Then 
by the time I had set up Lorna, beautiful and smiling, with 
the sealskin cloak all over her, sturdy Gwenny came along, 
having trudged in the track of my snow-shoes, although 
with two bags on her back. I set her in beside her mistress 
to support her, and keep warm; and then, with one look 
back at the glen, which had been so long my home of heart, 
I hung behind the sled, and launched it down the steep and 
dangerous way. 

Though the cliffs were black above us, and the road 
unseen in front, and a great white grave of snow might at a 
single word come down, Lorna was as calm and happy as 
an infant in its bed. She knew that I was with her ; and 
when I told her not to speak, she touched my hand in si- 
lence. Gwenny was in a much greater fright, having never 
seen such a thing before, neither knowing what it is to yield 
to pure love's confidence. I could hardly keep her quiet, 
without making a noise myself. With my staff from rock 
to rock, and my weight thrown backward, I broke the sled's 
too rapid way, and brought my grown love safely out, by 
the selfsame road which first had led me to her girlish 
fancy, and my boyish slavery. 



BRINGING LORNA HOME 317 

Unpursued, yet looking back as if some one must be after 
us, we skirted round the black, whirling pool, and gained the 
meadows beyond it. Here there was hard collar work, the 
track being all uphill and rough ; and Gwenny wanted to 
jump out, to lighten the sled and to push behind. But I 
would not hear of it ; because it was now so deadly cold, 
and I feared that Lorna might get frozen, without having 
Gwenny to keep her warm. And after all it was the 
sweetest labor I had ever known in all my life, to be sure 
that I was pulling Lorna, and pulling her to our own 
farm-house. 

Gwenny's nose was touched with frost before we had gone 
much farther, because she would not keep it quiet and snug 
beneath the sealskin. And here I had to stop in the moon- 
light (which was very dangerous) and rub it with a clove of 
snow, as Eliza had taught me ; and Gwenny's scolding all 
the time, as if myself had frozen it. Lorna was now so far 
oppressed with all the troubles of the evening, and the joy 
that followed them, as well as by the piercing cold and 
difficulty of breathing, that she lay quite motionless, like 
fairest wax in the moonlight — when we stole a glance at 
her, beneath the dark folds of the cloak; and I thought 
that she was falling into the heavy snow sleep, whence there 
is no awaking. 

Therefore, I drew my traces tight, and set my whole 
strength to the business ; and we slipped along at a merry 
pace, although with many joltings, which must have sent 
my darling out into the cold snow-drifts but for the short, 
strong arm of Gwenny. And so, in about an hour's time, 
in spite of many hindrances, we came home to the old court- 
yard, and all the dogs saluted us. My heart was quivering, 



318 WINTER SPORTS 

and my cheeks as hot as the Doones' bonfire, with wonder- 
ing both what Lorna would think of our farm-yard, and 
what my mother would think of her. Upon the former 
subject my anxiety was wasted, for Lorna neither saw a 
thing, nor even opened her heavy eyes. And as to what 
mother would think of her, she was certain not to think at 
all, until she had cried over her. 

And so indeed it came to pass. ^ ^ _. 

F — R. D. Blackmore. 



OTHER ICE AND SNOW SPORTS 

AN ICE GYMKHANA AT DAVOS 

The merriest day of the winter is the ice Gymkhana day. 
I suppose you will go in for most of the sports, but you 
should stay out of at least one of the liveliest of them, and go 
up to the road and see it from that point of vantage. On 
this day the rink is the centre of all the Oberland, and even 
the great mountains on the other side of the valley seem to 
be crowding about it. In the first place it is always con- 
spicuous from every point of view as being the only consid- 
erable level space in this region of breakneck slopes ; then 
to-day it is gleaming with color and motion, and has 
drawn to its edges all the life in the valley. Flags of all 
nations and Bernese flags float from the surrounding snow 
embankments ; and other flags, tiny ones on sticks that are 
frozen in cubes of ice, are moved about on the rink itself to 
mark the various race-courses. In one corner is a table with 
the usual profusion of kettles and cake baskets enforced on 
one side by a bear of pure ice embracing a pail of ice-cream, 
and on the other by its antidote in a huge punch-bowl, 
while on the bank just above, a bonfire of big logs is kept 
ablaze throughout the afternoon. Brown-coated men and 
black- skirted women line the highroad, and the terrace 
and upstairs windows of the Patisseries are rilled with non- 
participating visitors. Early in the afternoon the contest- 
319 



3 2o WINTER SPORTS 

ants gather on the rink, some with shovels, some with to- 
boggans, some with a skate on one foot and a "gouty" on 
the other; and toward three o'clock the whistle is blown 
for the first race. What follows is pure sport untainted 
with art. I need not explain to you the most advantageous 
method of shovelling a young lady the length of the rink 
one way, and being shovelled by her the same distance the 
other way, nor decide whether a toboggan for two will go 
faster if propelled by four feet or if by two feet and two hands. 
If you fail to discover these things for yourself, it matters 
not in the least. For this is a holiday. Books have noth- 
ing to do with it, judges are benign ; and the prizes are 
not calculated to breed strife and dissension. Even the ice 
seems not to mind the rough treatment it gets, and at the 
end everybody goes in, feeling much refreshed. 

Occasionally there is skating in the evening, and at least 
once there has been a so-called Ice Carnival, in which every- 
body carried a Chinese lantern, while many wore fancy 
dress. Some of the costumes were very interesting, and 
there was music and dancing and fireworks. This part of 
it might have been pleasant enough ; but instead of a moon 
there was a snow-storm, which combined with some exceed- 
ingly smoky torches to make the place so thick and wet and 
cold that most people went indoors early, and spent the 
rest of the evening over hot soup and similar restoratives. 

— Daniel P. Rhodes. 

From A Pleasure Book of Grindelwald. 



AMERICAN INDIAN SNOW-SNAKES 

Under the general name of " snow-snake" Mr. Stewart 
Culin has grouped a number of variations of a game com- 
mon to the northern range of American Indian tribes, well 
within the limit of ice and snow. ' 

The game in its older and proper form is played with 
rods varying from short sticks, darts, or javelins up to rods 
ten feet in length. Nearly always the wood is scraped and 
polished, not infrequently its end is carved. Among the 
Omahas the game seems to have been originally one of 
sliding bows, and it may be connected with the tribal tradi- 
tion of the two bows of the twin war gods. 

A player grasps the " snake" with his right-hand index 
finger against one end, the thumb supporting it on one side, 
the other three fingers on the other. The position is taken 
with the left side toward the direction in which the snake is 
to glide, the knees slightly bent and the upper part of the 
body stooping forward, the left hand resting on the left 
knee. So the snake is shot forward to glide along the crust 
of frozen snow, the ice of a stream -or lake, or in a rut or 
track especially prepared. The game is played by two 
persons or two parties; every snake which outdistances 
all those on the opposing side scores a point for the side to 
which it belongs, and often stakes are bet upon the result 
of such a contest, for, not infrequently the apparently stolid 
y 321 



322 WINTER SPORTS 

American Indian shows himself a reckless plunger in the 
matter of betting on his favorite game. Where no stakes 
are bet, they sometimes agree to hit once on the head the 
player whose snake travels the shortest distance. 

The snake is often the object of a deal of care from its 
owner. It may be merely a willow rod, about four feet 
long, peeled and painted and tipped with a point of buffalo 
horn. It may be so shaped that the head is slightly thicker 
than the rest of its length, and this bulb is rounded at the end, 
slightly flattened, and carved with the eyes and cross-cut 
mouth of a snake. 

Sometimes deep lines or grooves are cut or burned along 
its length, and into these crude colors, red and yellow, are 
painted. In thickness as in length there is wide variation ; 
sticks of about the length of an ordinary walking cane may 
be about one-fourth inch in thickness and taper from a 
width of nearly an inch at the head to less than half that 
at the tail. 

Among the northern tribes of American Indians the snake 
may be made of hickory with the most perfect precision 
and finish, from five to seven feet in length, with a round, 
pointed head turned up slightly and tipped with lead to 
increase its momentum. A player of dexterity and strength 
could make such a snake run to a distance of sixty or eighty 
rods. 

A contest was decided when either party had gained the 
number of points agreed upon, usually seven or ten. 

The common form of the game was, as had been said, a 
contest in distance-throwing without special track or tee, 
but in this respect also different tribes varied the sport. 
The Chippewa played it with shoshiman (slipping sticks), 



AMERICAN INDIAN SNOW-SNAKES 323 

of which the knob end was bent upward slightly, to pass 
more freely over any obstacle, and made the thrust at a 
small gently rising incline of frozen snow formed on the ice, 
over which the sticks darted with great force, covering a 
considerable distance before touching the ice. 

Among the Assiniboin a narrow track is made down a 
hillside for sixty feet or more, and iced. Across it at points 
about ten feet apart are four barriers of loose snow. The dart, 
which they call puckitseeman, is short, from eight to eigh- 
teen inches, and is thrown, as in underhand bowling from 
a distance of about ten feet at the nearest barrier. The 
object of the game is to pass the dart through all four bar- 
riers at one throw ; points may be counted, however, 
according to the number of barriers penetrated by the dart. 
A special form of the game is played by the women ex- 
clusively. In this the ice-path is narrower and made with 
many turnings, but no barriers; the passing of the dart 
around the several turns is held to be a difficulty equiva- 
lent to that of the barriers in the men's game. 

Among the Penobscot Indians the game was called su-ha, 
says C. C. Willoughby, who thus describes it: — 

When a man wanted to play this game, he took a number 
of his su-ha sticks and went through the village calling 
" su ha ! su ha ! " One or more of the men would thereupon 
take a boy by the feet and drag him down some incline, thus 
making a track or path in the snow. Down this path 
each player in turn, calling out u su ha !" threw one of his 
sticks as a spear is thrown. To mark the distance this 
stick was stuck up in the snow beside the path, opposite 
the place where it stopped. When all the sticks had been 
thrown, they became the property of the man whose stick 



324 WINTER SPORTS 

had covered the greatest distance. He would gather them 
all up, and after selecting such as he wanted, would throw 
the others up in the air, and they became the property of 
those strong and quick enough to secure them. 

The Seneca play the game from a running start of three 
or four rods, and just before the player throws he jumps. 
In this running start the snake is balanced on the left hand 
and held by the tail in the right hand, with the fingers 
beneath and the thumb above. 

Skill in the game lies in delivering the snake at the best 
slant. In this game one may trace a possible origin for the 
institution of the caddy, for it was the small boy's part to 
run and bring back for the throwers. 

The Iroquois played a game precisely similar in principle, 
but with a snow-boat instead of a snow-snake. 

The boat was about fifteen inches in length, and made of 
beech or other hard wood, something in the fashion of a 
canoe. It was solid, with the exception of an oblong cavity 
in the centre, designed to suspend bells or other rattles 
upon. In the stern of this little vessel a white feather was 
inserted for a flag, by which to follow it in its descent. On 
the bottom the boat was rounded, but with a slant wind 
lengthwise to give it a true direction. A side-hill, with an 
open plain below, was the kind of place selected to try the 
speed of the boats. Trenches in a straight line down the 
hill, and about a foot wide, were made by treading down 
the snow ; after which water was poured into them that it 
might freeze and line the trenches throughout their whole 
extent with ice. These trenches, to the number of a dozen, 
side by side, if as many individuals intended to play, were 
finished with the greatest care and exactness, not only down 




A MENOMINhE INDIAN HOLDING THE SNOW-SNAKE IN THE 
PROPER POSITION FOR A THROW 



AMERICAN INDIAN SNOW-SNAKES 325 

the hillside, but to a considerable distance across the plain 
below. At the same time the boats themselves were dipped 
in water, that they might also be coated with ice. 

The people divided by tribes in playing this, as in all 
other Iroquois games, the Wolf, Beaver, Bear, and Turtle 
tribes playing against the Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. 
At the time appointed the people assembled at the base of 
the hill and divided off by tribes, and then commenced 
betting on the result, a custom universally practised on such 
occasions. The game was played by select players who 
were stationed at the top of the hill, each with two or 
three boats, and standing at the head of his own trench. 
When all was in readiness, the boats were started off together 
at the appointed moment, and their rapid descent was 
watched with eager interest by the people below. . . . 
The game was played for a number of points decided upon 
in advance, and continued until one side made that number 
of points. A count of one was made for every boat which 
led all upon the adverse side, so that if there were six 
players upon a side, it was possible for six points to be made 
at one trial. On the contrary, if all the boats but one 
upon one side were in advance of all but one upon the ad- 
verse side, and the latter was in advance of all, this head 
boat would win, and the count would be one for the side to 
which it belonged. 

Another game similar in principle was played with the 
" bone-slider," a piece of bone or horn, in one end of which 
two bits of wood are fixed, with a feather fastened on each. 
The bone varies from four and a half inches to seven or 
eight; the total length from seventeen to twenty-five 
inches. The bone is usually a piece of buffalo or beef rib. 



326 WINTER SPORTS 

It is held with the forefinger between the two sticks, its 
end against the end of the bone, the thumb upon one side 
of the bone and the other three fingers on the opposite 
side of the rib, the convex side of which is down. It is 
then thrown down and forward against the ice so that it 
glances forward as the snow-snakes do. A Cheyenne speci- 
men is elaborately etched with incisions into which color 
has been rubbed. The marks represent a horned toad, a 
tarantula, the milky way, and the moon, signs which in- 
voke the four winds. The six legs of the tarantula repre- 
sent up and down and the cardinal points. 

Collated from " Games of the North American Indians," 24th Annual Report 
of the Bureau of American Ethnology. By Stewart Culin. 



ICE SHUFFLEBOARD 

The popular game of shuffleboard can be transformed 
into an excellent winter sport, something like curling, but 
— mention it not in a Scotchman's hearing — having sev- 
eral advantages over that good old game. It requires 
neither costly appliances nor the strength necessary to 
wield heavy weights, and may be played by women as well 
as men. 

The game is easy to play. On a smooth piece of ice five 
circles are marked out, having a common centre, the in- 
nermost circle having a radius of six inches, and each outer 
one a radius of six inches larger than that of the circle next 
nearest the centre of the target thus formed. The spaces 
between the lines are numbered from one to five, the high- 
est number being at the centre. From a line a little dis- 
tance away, say twenty-five feet, round disks are propelled 
by long cues toward this target. The object of the game 
is for each side to shoot its disks as near the centre of the 
circles as possible and to knock its opponents' disks away. 

The playing is usually arranged, for four persons, two 
against two, shooting in rotation, and there are twelve 
disks, giving each player three shots. When all the disks 
have been played, each side is credited with the number 
of points indicated by the spaces in which the disks lie, and 
the difference between the two scores is given to the side 
having the larger number. Disks outside the larger circle 
327. 



328 WINTER SPORTS 

do not count, while those resting on lines count in the space 
which holds more than half of the disk. 

Additional rules in scoring may be adopted if so de- 
sired. For instance, one of the spaces between circles may 
be marked "five off," or there may be other similar arrange- 
ments. This will add interest to the playing, as each side 
will try to avoid that space and to force its opponents into 
it. A closer contest will also be assured if disks resting on 
lines are not allowed to count, as well as those entirely out- 
side the circles. 

The disks are made five inches in diameter, and one and 
three-quarter inches thick. These of course could be cut 
out with mallet and chisel, but this would be a rather te- 
dious task. If one is fond of doing carpenter work and pos- 
sesses a lathe, they can be turned out in a short time ; other- 
wise it would be better to have them made by a carpenter. 
Any wood can be used, although oak or ash would be best, 
as they would thus be heavier and slide along the ice more 
easily, besides being less likely to soften from the dampness 
and become rough. The disks should be marked in some 
way so as to facilitate counting. 

The cues are not so easy to make. They should be made 
of light wood — pine is as good as any — one and one- 
quarter inches thick, and should be eight feet long, to give 
more force and accuracy to the shot. The end resting on 
the ice should be four inches across, with a slight curve in 
the centre, so that a better hold on the disk may be obtained. 
The cues may be made in two ways : the first and perhaps 
the better is to take a board the required thickness, eight 
feet long and four inches wide. Cut a curve in the end, 
using one of the disks as a marker in order to get the same 



ICE SHUFFLEBOARD 329 

curve. From its points mark a line curving in on both 
sides until the wood is the same in width as in thickness. 
Then saw along these lines the entire length of the board, 
leaving a square handle. This can either be turned on a 
lathe, or rounded with a plane to give a smooth surface. 
The slight hollow at the end of the cue can be made by 
gouging out, or using a circular plane, and the edges of 
the broader parts should be slightly rounded to allow it 
to slide easily without splintering. ... A short cross-piece 
of wood nailed to the end of an eight-foot stick will answer 
the purpose, but it is not symmetrical. 

It would probably cost not more than seventy-five 
cents to a dollar to have the twelve disks turned out by a 
carpenter. If they are chiselled out at home, the cost would 
only be for the material. Wood of this thickness (one 
and three-quarter inches) would cost about twelve to fifteen 
cents a square foot, so that the material would cost, at this 
figure, between thirty-six and forty-five cents. A carpen- 
ter would charge about seventy-five cents each for the 
cues, but a good deal of this charge would be for time ex- 
pended. An eight-inch board would make two cues, and 
would cost, on the average, nine cents per square foot. 
This would make the expense for material alone about fifty 
cents. When the whole work is undertaken by a carpen- 
ter or turner, the expense for a set of two cues and twelve 
disks is about $2.25 ; but when the work is done at home, 
the only cost will be for material, which would be under a 
dollar. 



F. L. Cooper. 



From Country Life in America. 

By permission of Doubleday, Page & Co. 



THE ICE CARNIVAL 

The Ice Carnival was unique in its inception, distinct 
in its appointments, and brilliant in its passing. It is like 
an illuminated page in the history of Canadian sport. 
The carnival was the outgrowth of the Canadian enthu- 
siasm for winter sports, and the result of the ambition of 
the athletic spirit of the Dominion to express itself in one 
grand, comprehensive and organized display. 

Canada has always been distinguished for her sports. 
Skating, snow-shoeing, tobogganing, sleighing, curling, and 
hockey each numbered enthusiastic devotees. To amal- 
gamate these interests was the object of the carnival. 
The idea was favorably received and for a time engrossed 
the attention of every loyal Canadian. Commercial, politi- 
cal, and social aids were all brought to contribute to the 
success of the ice carnival. 

The first carnival was held at Montreal, in the winter of 
1883, and lasted five days. The weather was ideal. The 
success of the great undertaking was thereby assured, for 
when Old Prob frowns at midwinter in Canada, even the 
hardy habitants hover indoors. At that time the Marquis 
of Lome was Governor-General, and he and his popular 
consort, the Princess Louise, encouraged the carnival in 
every way, thus giving the fete a social glamour that made 
it doubly alluring. 

330 



THE ICE CARNIVAL 331 

The ice palace, the carnival idea which substantially 
and brilliantly expressed the possibilities of a Canadian 
winter, proved an immense attraction to visitors. The 
palace was constructed of solid blocks of ice taken from 
the St. Lawrence River. That of 1893 was typical. It was 
ninety feet square, with a rectangular tower at each corner, 
and from the center arose a great tower eighty feet in height. 
The palaces were solidly built and stood the changes of 
temperature long after the carnival had passed. In Mon- 
treal they have always been erected upon a large square 
in the centre of the city. In Ottawa they occupied a site 
upon a picturesque promontory called Nepean Point, which 
overlooks the city and the Ottawa River. They were im- 
posing and remarkable edifices and always stimulated the 
rivalry of the most famous architects of the Dominion. 

At the formal opening of the carnivals the palace was 
stormed by hosts of snow-shoers clad in brilliantly colored 
blanket costumes of white set off by gay stripes. In 
Montreal the procession, armed with flaming torches, 
started at some snow-shoe club on Mount Royal, overlook- 
ing the city, and dashed down through the streets, re- 
sembling a gigantic trail of light. Upon arriving at the 
palace its battlements were stormed with Roman candles, 
sky-rockets, and varicolored fire. Its interior being brill- 
iantly illuminated, the effect was thrilling, the translucent 
walls of the palace having the appearance of a castle in 
fairyland. The climax was reached when, with ringing 
shouts and cheers, the snow-shoers took final possession, and 
a burst of fireworks and a booming of cannon proclaimed 
to the assembled thousands of spectators that victory had 
been achieved. 



332 WINTER SPORTS 

The programme of the week of sport was equally brill- 
iant. An afternoon was devoted to a driving parade, in 
which those magnificent horses for which Canada is famous 
pranced through the streets, drawing sumptuous sleighs 
embellished with great plumes and gay colors, and whose 
occupants were muffled almost beyond recognition in great 
fur coats and hoods, giving them the appearance of primitive 
Esquimaux. Those seen not wearing the Canadian hood 
and fur were set down as " people from the States." . . . 

The immense Victoria skating-rink at Montreal was a 
scene of brilliancy. The Canadian women are particularly 
expert in skating, and upon the evening of a masquerade 
on the ice the galleries as well as the rink were crowded. 
The costumes were gorgeous and the effect kaleidoscopic, 
as the skaters went through lanciers, quadrilles, and waltzes 
with an ease and grace that seemed almost marvellous. 
The rink was decorated from arch to ceiling with streamers 
and flags of all nations. ... A great ball was always given 
by the snow-shoers at a club on Mount Royal ; and both 
there and at the Windsor popularity underwent a penalty, 
for "bouncing" was a favorite amusement during carnival 
week. The sport consisted of a dozen sturdy fellows throw- 
ing some popular visitor or one of their number into the 
air and catching him in a blanket as he fell. The distinc- 
tion was thrust upon one — not sought. 

The carnivals, though in the main similar, differed in 
details in different years or places. One year a maze was 
constructed, entirely of ice, in a public square. At the 
centre the successful explorer was awaited by " something 
hot." A feature of interest, in both Montreal and Ottawa, 
was a "live arch," which consisted of an immense structure 



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THE ICE CARNIVAL 333 

like a gateway of an ancient city, covered with evergreens, 
and here and there and everywhere places for snow-shoers 
to protrude their heads, enveloped in the picturesque 
capuchin hoods of their blanket costumes. 

But a reaction set in; Canadians began to feel that 
their country was looked upon only as the abode of ice and 
snow, and any random talk of the revival of the ice carnival 
is frowned down emphatically throughout Canada. 

— Edwin Wildman. 

By permission of the Outing Company. 



FETE DE NUIT IN MONTREAL 

I have been in Montreal in both summer and winter ; 
of the two I prefer it when the white mantle is drawn over 
it, when bright crowds can be seen trudging through the 
snow, with their snow-shoes or their skis on their backs, 
going out to live, going out to forget work and money, and 
to revel in the glory of the winter. 

I was there on the fete de nuit, and a gayer, brighter, hap- 
pier concourse of people than those assembled on Mount 
Royal that night I have seldom seen. But never before 
was it brought home to me how really foreign Montreal is, 
or, I should say, how foreign I was to Montreal. These 
people were neither French, English, Canadian, nor Ameri- 
can, and yet they reminded me of each. 

There were twenty thousand people on Mount Royal 
that night, some clothed in furs from hat to boot, others in 
the picturesque, closely fitting blanket costume of the 
Canadian who goes forth in the snow to enjoy life. 

From the top of Mount Royal a toboggan slide had been 
made. It was lit on both sides with Japanese and Chinese 
lanterns, and the dancing lights showed on the faces of the 
tobogganers as they raced down at a maddening pace, amid 
the cheers and laughter of the crowd. 

Rocket after rocket flew skyward, curved and burst into 
thousands of glimmering stars. A roaring great bonfire 

334 



FETE DE NUIT IN MONTREAL 335 

with a dozen barrels of tar to feed its flames sent a lurid 
light into the heavens, and from all sides merry boys and 
girls were snowballing it. Hissing and roaring, the great 
fire licked up tar and log and the streams of snowballs, 
which in the strange light looked as if the fire were a magnet 
drawing little white balls into its centre from all directions. 

Skiers dashed past as near the flames as the heat would 
permit. Men and women with snow-shoes walked toward 
it to get warmed through. Fur-coated patersfamilias 
gradually settled down at a convenient distance from it, 
with the excuse that the children would find them better 
if they were in the circle of light. 

Then the coming home when the hour was growing late ; 
the merry jingle of sleigh-bells could first be heard and then 
the thudding of a toboggan as a crew who started far 
up the mountain shot down into the road and on, on, down 
through the crowds, face downwards, laughing, shouting, 
dashing onward ; mad, merry, and irresponsible — what 
was a spill, or a dozen spills to them ? It was fete de nuit- 

Pedestrians rushed to the sides of paths and yelled with 
delight as another toboggan shot by and a pair of daring 
skiers shot swiftly over the rugged places of the half-formed 
roads. The tinkle of the sleigh-bells behind and ahead in 
the semi-darkness added to the magical effect of the whole 
scene. 

Winter in Montreal is one long day .of enjoyment for those 

who love the winter sports. „ „ T „ 

— E. Way Elkington. 



MR. PICKWICK'S FAMOUS SLIDE 

Mr. Weller and the fat boy, having by their joint 
endeavors cut out a slide, were exercising themselves there- 
upon, in a very masterly and brilliant manner. Sam Weller, 
in particular, was displaying that beautiful feat of fancy- 
sliding which is currently denominated "knocking at the 
cobbler's door," and which is achieved by skimming over 
the ice on one foot, and occasionally giving a two-penny 
postman's knock upon it, with the other. It was a good 
long slide, and there was something in the motion which Mr. 
Pickwick, who was very cold with standing still, could not 
help envying. 

"It looks a nice warm exercise that, doesn't it?" he 
inquired of Wardle, when that gentleman was thoroughly 
out of breath, by reason of the indefatigable manner in 
which he had converted his legs into a pair of compasses, 
and drawn complicated problems on the ice. 

"Ah, it does, indeed," replied Wardle. "Do you slide ?" 

"I used to do so, on the gutters, when I was a boy/' 
replied Mr. Pickwick. 

"Try it now," said Wardle. 

"Oh do, please, Mr. Pickwick," cried all the ladies. 

"I should be very happy to afford you any amusement," 
replied Mr/ Pickwick, "but I haven't done such a thing 
these thirty years." 

336 



MR. PICKWICK'S FAMOUS SLIDE 337 

"Pooh ! pooh! nonsense!" said Wardle, dragging off 
his skates with the impetuosity which characterized all his 
proceedings. "Here; I '11 keep you company; come 
along." And away went the good-tempered old fellow 
down the slide, with a rapidity which came very close upon 
Mr. Weller, and beat the fat boy all to nothing. 

Mr. Pickwick paused, considered, pulled off his gloves 
and put them in his hat, took two or three short runs, 
balked himself as often, and at last took another run and 
went slowly and gravely down the slide, with his feet about 
a yard and a quarter apart, amidst the gratified shouts of 
all the spectators. 

"Keep the pot a bilin', Sir," said Sam; and down went 
Wardle again, and then Mr. Pickwick, and then Sam, and 
then Mr. Winkle, and then Mr. Bob Sawyer, and then the 
fat boy, and then Mr. Snodgrass, following closely upon 
each other's heels, and running after each other with as much 
eagerness as if all their future prospects in life depended on 
their expedition. 

It was the most intensely interesting thing, to observe 
the manner in which Mr. Pickwick performed his share in 
the ceremony ; to watch the torture of anxiety with which 
he viewed the person behind gaining upon him at the im- 
minent hazard of tripping him up; to see him gradually 
expend the painful force which he had put on at first, and 
turn slowly round on the slide, with, his face towards the 
point from which he had started ; to contemplate the playful 
smile which mantled on his face when he had accomplished 
the distance, and the eagerness with which he turned round 
when he had done so and ran after his predecessor, his 
black gaiters tripping pleasantly through the snow, and his 



338 WINTER SPORTS 

eyes beaming cheerfulness and gladness through his spec- 
tacles. And when he was knocked down (which happened 
upon the average every third round) it was the most in- 
vigorating sight that can possibly be imagined to behold 
him gather up his hat, gloves, and handkerchief, with a 
glowing countenance, and resume his station in the rank, 
with an ardor and enthusiasm which nothing could abate. 

— Charles Dickens. 

From The Pickwick Papers. 



CHILDREN'S GAMES ON THE SNOW AND ICE 

Any youth who spends his early years by a broad river, 
say the upper reaches of the Mississippi, enters life under 
favoring star. 

There are good points about the ocean, one may admit, 
but can it offer anything better than a long summer da}^ 
on a logging raft, sliding down " without haste, without 
rest," to the city miles down-stream whence one comes 
home in the " caboose" of a way freight and exchanges 
the " yarns" of the logger for those of the brakeman? 

Does the ocean's " stern and rock-bound coast" ever 
give a small boy the delight of sitting up to see "the night 
boat going up," her whistle tooting " howdy" to the town 
too small for a stop, a blaze of lighted windows, with sway- 
ing lanterns of red and green as "she" swung round the 
bend, and a band on the upper deck ? 

Setting aside the objections of the small Iowan who went 
in swimming at Asbury Park: "It don't feel like home, 
an' it don't taste like home, an' it bumps you," does the 
ocean freeze solid all the way across ? When that happened 
to the river, a boy might smuggle a ragged old buffalo-robe, 
as much food as he could keep overnight uneaten, wake 
early by a monstrous effort, and in the gray of the morning, 
when the ox sleds plodded out of the lumber-yard to carry 
the woodcutters to their work, be off to discover a new 

339 



340 WINTER SPORTS 

world in what seemed to him the primeval forest on that 
other side so inaccessible all summer when the river's 
strong current ran between. A boy who could not pick up 
chips in the home yard for ten minutes without getting 
" tired" thought a bushel basket full a small price to 
promise for permission to spend a Saturday at the wood- 
cutters' camp. Sometimes he never knew just how the 
day ended, or that friendly Olaf, Hans, or Francois got 
a hot supper at dusk for delivering at the back door a 
basket of chips and a blanketed bundle of half-uncon- 
scious, sleepy boy from the top of a load of cordwood. 

Such adventurous days did not come often, but the 
frozen river was always his for a playground. If snow 
spoiled their slide or stopped their skating, he and the 
other children whose fathers owned the big sawmill by the 
river would make an " Indian village" rise as if the river 
were sprouting toadstools. Their only tool was a small- 
sized snow-shovel made by putting a long handle on a 
stout oak shingle. Each boy was thoughtfully outfitted 
by his family with one of these implements very early in 
the season and in his first enthusiasm over the gift cleared 
unnumbered cubic yards of snow from paths and porches ; 
later it was used chiefly in hut building. The construc- 
tion was simple ; one took a small snowball and rolled it 
till it was as large as he could easily move around, and then 
began another; ball after ball of nearly uniform size was 
made and laid one beside the next until the ground plan was 
traced of either a round " igloo" or a square hut, as fancy 
decided. Usually the foundation was made about two 
feet thick at the base, and upon this more balls were laid 
in tier on tier. Inside and out the walls were squared with 



CHILDREN'S GAMES ON THE SNOW AND ICE 341 

shovels and every hollow was chinked with snow. If 
there had not been an abundance of " brush" at hand, 
some other form of roofing must have been devised; but 
since such boys are born democrats, and not a logger, 
sa\\ryer, ox driver, or any other employee of their fathers 
escaped their acquaintance if he stayed a week at the saw- 
mill, it was easy in hut building time to have a load or two 
of hemlock boughs brought to the ice. The walls were 
carried up to the height at which perseverance gave out, 
and then the hemlock branches were spread across the top 
from side to side, stem and tip alternating so as to secure 
an even thatch. Loose snow was thrown over the top, and 
the builders were best pleased if after that a fresh fall came 
and softened every outline. The open spaces for doors 
were always left on the western side, facing their homes; 
this was probably on account of the prevailing winds, but 
as Olaf said, "it did gif dem such a pride" to sit on their 
heels on a lumberman's blanket inside and look out upon 
the homes of parents and guardians, "other men's houses." 

Sometimes war broke out, if the ice cutters left a few 
squared blocks from which the boys could build a fort. 
However militarists may argue in modern times, a standing 
army and strong defences did not in that day make for 
peace. A few deftly thrown taunts, a hard snowball or 
two, or the mere sight of the fort, brought the enemy 
swarming from in front of the " Shanties " a little way down- 
stream. Then a war was on with loud war-cries (from 
Marco Bozarris) and some bloodshed (from noses). 

Among themselves the boys more often played a snow- 
balling game which consisted in setting up outside one's 
hut a cane or even longer stick on the point of which was 



342 WINTER SPORTS 

set a good firm snowball. Having previously stored the 
hut with a very large supply of snowballs, one then an- 
nounced loudly, "I am an Englishman!" on the prin- 
ciple, it was understood, that an Englishman's house is 
his castle and that he stood ready to defend it against any 
invader who should attempt, by the throw of another snow- 
ball, to knock the flaunting symbol off its stick. 

The young lumbermen, from whom that game was 
learned, played it differently, dividing their number into 
" sides" a fair throw's length apart. Each man drove an 
iron-shod pole into the snow in front of him ; piled a heap 
of snowballs at his feet ; stuck a ball on his pole ; and was 
ready at once to defend his own and attack the pole oppo- 
site him on the enemy's side. A man whose ball was shot 
away rallied to the support of any man on his own line 
whose ball was still in place; and that team won which 
could show a reasonably large fraction of a ball (if not a 
whole one) remaining after all those on the other side had 
been knocked from their supports. 

One winter a Dutchman working at the sawmill taught 
the boys to propel their sleds over the frozen crust of the 
snow on the river by using two pointed sticks as push poles. 
In that flat country such coasting as was possible was not 
exciting; but the boy who nailed a cross-bar near the 
tips of the runners of his low, stout sled as a foot-rest, and 
learned the trick of pushing himself about while sitting 
erect with a push stick in each hand, could move at a 
surprising rate of speed. The cross-bar, or narrow board, 
which served as a foot-rest, had another use, also in, some 
games which the same Dutchman taught the boys to play 
with wooden balls. One of these, in which the number 



CHILDREN'S GAMES ON THE SNOW AND ICE 343 

of contestants at one time was limited to two by the fact 
that only six balls of the previous summer's croquet set 
could be found, was played by marking a line some eight 
feet long or so on the ice ; three of the wooden balls Were 
placed at one extreme end of the line and three at the 
other end. About fifty feet away or at any greater dis- 
tance agreed upon by the two players, a second line of the 
same length was drawn, parallel to the first. At each 
end of this a contestant took his station, sitting on his 
sled with a stick in each hand. On the given signal: 
"One, two, three, GO!" each stick dug into the ice and 
each sled shot off. The object was to reach and round 
the mark on which those balls lay, pick them up and place 
them on the cross-bar of the sled and so carry them back 
to the starting-point before one's opponent could do the 
same at his end of the lines. He must not touch the ice 
with his feet at all ; he could touch the balls only in lifting 
them from the ice to the sled ; and should one roll off, he 
could not retrieve it until he had first gone on to the home 
line. There he left any ball which with good luck remained 
with him, rounded the home mark, and then if the other 
fellow were also scant of his full score, returned again for 
the stray. At each line a full turn must be made ; that is, 
the ball line must be crossed and a turn made beyond the 
point on which the balls were laid before starting back ; 
if it was necessary to go back for .a ball, the home mark 
must be rounded in the same way; if one were steady 
enough to bring all three balls home on the first trip, it 
was necessary only to cross the line. So many variations 
of the sport were possible that the conditions of a contest 
were nearly always made the subject of a hot discussion. 



344 WINTER SPORTS 

Sometimes all the three balls were to be brought in with 
the fewest trips possible; in the next game the players 
might agree that a separate trip must be made for each 
ball ; and at another time all six balls were laid on a single 
line at distances of ten yards from the competing sled and 
from each other and the struggle was to see who could 
bring them to the home mark on his sled, one at a time, 
most quickly. In certain conditions of the crust, or the 
ice, a " sweeper" was allowed to each sled. (Surely this 
detail was gleaned from the Scotchmen who played "the 
roaring game " whenever enough of them were in the "yard " 
and the ice was keen for curling.) The sweeper might 
not touch either ball or sled; she (it usually was a "she") 
was there solely to remove loose snow and "rock" from 
the sledder's path ; and if a too vigorous shove with his 
stronger arm sent him off the path to lose precious time 
extricating his sled from a drift, she was apt to be rewarded 
with: "Well, if you won't sweep where I 'm going!" 
This game of sledding as played on smooth ice with the 
shod ends of broken peavies for propellers, was not dis- 
dained by even the grown men who, too, spent what time 
they could upon the river in those days in the seventies. 

Hockey had not then become a popular winter sport, 
and on skates the boys were fitly humble ; for young Scan- 
dinavian and Dutch lumbermen showed them such a stand- 
ard as made them forever scornful of any other skater's 
claim to speed or grace. If any boasted in their pres- 
ence, all they said was: "You never saw Olaf?" with a 
rising inflection which would have done credit to a Harvard 
man, and with the finality of one who had "fought with 
Grant," as the saying is. 



CHILDREN'S GAMES ON THE SNOW AND ICE 345 

Speaking of " rocks" recalls another game known as 
breaking the duck's neck, for which two rings with a com- 
mon centre were marked on the ice. These were made by 
using a strip of lath from the lumber-yard, one inch by 
two inches, and sixteen feet in length. Near one end of it 
a spike was driven through the wood, and two others at 
distances from it of five and fifteen feet ; spike number one 
was always allowed to project a little farther through the 
wood than the other two. This longest spike was driven 
firmly into the ice at the point selected for the centre of 
the circle; then the " marker" was swung around it as 
on a pivot, so that an inner and an outer ring were de- 
scribed by the others. After the marker was removed, a 
big lump of ice, or sometimes a stone, was set with one 
end of it over the centre point. This was the "duck"; 
resting upon one end of its upper surface, usually as nearly 
above the actual centre of the circles as was possible, 
was placed another bit of ice or a smaller stone to serve 
as the duck's head. The players took each a station, or 
"mark, " on the outer ring, at distances apart depending 
on the number of players ; and after the choice of marks 
was settled with the usual disputes as to advantage or 
disadvantage from the direction of the wind or the glare 
of the sun, he or she set about the shaping of the "tee" 
on which success depended. On the inner ring, at the 
point where a straight line between his mark and the centre 
crossed the inner ring, each player heaped a little loose 
snow and then packed and shaped an outer slope so that 
when from his mark he should skim a flat bit of ice toward 
the centre on the frozen surface, it would be lifted by the 
gradual rise of the tee and go on its way at a height calcu- 



346 WINTER SPORTS 

lated to knock the upper stone off of the lower and thus 
"break the duck's neck." The height of the duck's "head " 
from the level of the sheet of ice varied according to the 
size of the chunk selected for the body of the bird, but was 
usually seven or eight inches. The piece of ice used as a 
skimmer was always called a "rock," a name brought over 
from the summer sport of skimming flat stones (in that 
midwest idiom, rocks) on the surface of the water. The 
height of the tee and the grade of the approach to it were 
both left to the judgment of the individual player, al- 
though advice was scattered freely by the gallery. The 
tee must be very smooth, and the skimming very swift; 
even then most ducks survived many attempts at be- 
heading. 

Upon the same rings, or upon others like them trodden 
in the snow, boys and girls played a form of the old game 
of "fox and geese." The stations which had served as 
marks now became "ponds" in which geese swam gayly 
indifferent, as they fluttered from one pond to another 
around the outer ring to the fox prowling on the inner 
ring, which must be crossed by every goose before it could 
gain the safety of the "barn" at the centre. For a limited 
time the fox must not leave the "woods," as the inner 
ring was called; the geese might "swim" on the "rivers" 
between the ponds {i.e. on the outer ring) or on the line 
from any pond to the barn, risking capture only where the 
line crossed the woods. At any time after play began, 
a goose might return to the barn ; it was a question whether 
to do so by one bold dash when the fox was looking else- 
where, or wait "shivering on the brink" until the clucking 
call of the "farmer" signified that every goose must return 



CHILDREN'S GAMES ON THE SNOW AND ICE 347 

by the path from the pond nearest him or be open to capture 
anywhere. For the farmer's call was the signal of night- 
fall, and after dark, as is well known, a fox may go where 
he will. At all times it was a point of honor for a goose 



RIVER" OR 
GOOSE RING 




Diagram of the Double Ring for the Game of " Fox and Geese." 

to make as much noise as possible; a frequent practice 
was for all of them to run round and round the outer ring 
with a great quacking and fluttering of " wings," hoping 
to deceive Brer Fox into thinking that they would not 
seek the barn before nightfall; and suddenly, without 
a break of speed to giye him warning, a goose would dash 
home ; sometimes all charged together from different 
paths, or if a daring soul would risk being last goose, all 
by one path together. A caught goose promptly became 
fox, quite according to nature. 



348 WINTER SPORTS 

Skiing was not among the boys' sports then ; occasion- 
ally some Norwegian came down the river on ski, the 
speediest way of travelling afoot, but probably it seemed to 
him but tame sport after the slopes and "hops" of his 
native land, and the ski were seldom used for pleasure, nor 
were the boys taught to make them. 

In these later years so soon as the ice will bear, a long 
toboggan slide is run down on to the ice from the roof of 
a covered dock, giving a long down-stream run of a mile 
or more beyond the end of the chute when the ice is smooth. 
There are winter sports a-plenty, snow-shoe and ski and 
ice-yacht races, ice carnivals and " pageants" on the 
river ; for in the city of to-day, as in the little town from 
which it grew, the river still dominates the pleasures of 

y° uth - —j. c. d. 



INDEX 



Alpine pass, crossing an, on ski, 228-233. 
American Indian games played on the 
snow or ice, 321. 

Barahones, 176. 
Bob-sleds, 247, 251. 

construction of, 252. 

on the Cresta Run, St. Moritz, 268. 

on the Klosters course, Davos, 266. 
Bone-sliding, an Indian sport, 325. 
Breaking the duck's neck, an ice game, 
345- 

Caribou country, a snow-shoe adven- 
ture in the, 170-188. 
Cariole, the French Canadian, 280, 282. 
Carnival, a winter, at Davos, 320. 

in Quebec, 199. 

in Montreal, 330, 334. 

the masquerade ball of a, 332. 

sleighing parade in a, 283-287, 332. 
See also under Ice fort, Ice pal- 
ace, etc. 
Coasting, at St. Moritz, 268. 

costume for, 253. 

in the old-fashioned way, 247-249. 

on ski, 232. 

on snow-shoes, 194. 

on the Klosters course, Davos, 266. 

on Swiss roads, 251, 253. 

primitive type of, seen in Quebec, 
258. 

See also Tobogganing. 
Cresta Run, the, at St. Moritz, 268. 
Curler's Elegy, a, 163. 
Curlers, the Jolly, 148. 
Curler word, the, 1 39-1 41. 
Curling, the game of, 125-162. 

general rules of, 133-138. 



humors of, 150-156. 
points in the game, 130, 157-162. 
rules for point competition, 157-162. 
the skip, 142, 147. 

Duluth Ski Club, 240. 

Fox and Geese, a snow or ice game, 347. 

Gadow, Hans, account of finding snow- 
shoes in Spain, 175. 

Games played by children on the ice 
or snow, 341. 

Gymkhana day at Davos, 319. 

Holland, skating in, 96-100. 
Holmenkollen games, the, 207-218. 
Hoprend, the annual Norwegian, 207- 
218. 

Ice-boats, 1. 

how to build a sixth-class yacht, 
32-40. 

on the Shrewsbury River, 8. 

racing centres, 2, 7. 

sailing and racing, 18-26, 27-31. 

the thrill of sailing, 5, 18. 

types of, 1. 
Ice fort, storming an, 199, 331. 
Ice gymkhana day at Davos, 319. 
Ice hockey, 109-124. 

body-checking in, 114. 

the Canadian national game, m- 
119. 

rules of the game, 120-124. 
Ice-motors, 2. 

friction type, 3, 9, n. 

propeller type, 3, 15. 
Ice palace in Montreal, 331. 



349 



350 



INDEX 



Ice shuffleboard, 327-320. 

cues described, 328, 329. 

disks described, 328. 

rink for the game, the, 327. 
Ice-streaking, the new winter sport, 4-10. 

Klosters course for toboggans at Davos, 
266. 

Luge, the Swiss toboggan, 251. 

Masquerade ball on ice, 332. 
Montreal Ice Carnival, 330. 
Montreal Snow-shoe Club, 202. 

songs of, 170, 201. 

storming the ice palace, 331. 
Motor-running on the ice, 1-17. 
Motor sleds on Saranac Lake, 3, 15. 
Mount Royal, winter sport on, 259, 
33i, 334- 

"Old Tuque Bleue," 201. 

Olympic games of the North, 207-218. 

Picnic, a winter, of the snow-shoers, 

192-195, 197. 
Puckitseeman, 323. 

Quebec Snow-shoers Club, 168. 

Saranac Lake, motor sleds on, 15. 
Scooter, birth of the, 41-46. 

building of a, 47-51. 
"Ships of the north," 278. 
Shoshiman, 322. 
Skate-sailing, 101-107. 
Skating, 53-107. 

figure, 67-73. 

Frisian and Dutch schools, 98. 

humors of, 92. 

in a masquerade ball on the ice, 332. 

in 1 180, 59. 

in Grindelwald for the Little Bear, 65. 

in Holland, 96-100. 

points of form in valsing on the ice, 
85-91. 

rudiments of, 53-59. 

valses suited to dancing on the ice, 
91. 

valsing on the ice, 74-84. 



Ski, a beginner on, 222, 228. 

an American 'tournament, 240—244. 
carrying mail over the Andes on, 

234- 
construction of, 204. 
crossing an Alpine pass on, 228. 
Skiing, 203-246. 

costume and outfit for, 204-206. 
first attempts at, 222, 228. 
resorts, 245. 

use of the pole in, 212, 222. 
Ski-jumping in the Holmenkollen games, 
207-211. 
the Telemarken method, 212-214, 

220. 
tournaments in America, 242. 
Ski-lobner, who became famous, 212- 
214. 
Frognersaeter a rendezvous for the, 
215. 
Skimen as mail-carriers over the Andes, 

234-239. 
Ski-running, a practical lesson in, 222- 
227. 
changes in methods of, 212, 2ig. 
in the Olympic games of the North, 

207-218. 
long-distance contests in, 215-218. 
Ski tournament, an American, 240- 

244. 
Skip, the, in the game of curling, 126, 

_ 129, 133-137, 142-147- 
Sledding with push poles, 342. 
Sledges, of Moscow, the, 291. 

of Switzerland, travelling post, 296- 
307. 
Sleighing, 279-318. 

in a carnival parade, 332. 
in New York, 284. 
in Paris, 285. 
in Quebec, 280. 

on the Nevsky Prospekt, 288. 
the Russian mode of harnessing 
horses for, 286, 292. 
Sliding, Mr. Pickwick's famous slide, 

336. 
Slipping sticks, 322. 
Smalsloede, the Norwegian, 309. 
Snow-balling, 341. 
Snow-boats of the Iroquois, 324. 



INDEX 



351 



Snow-hut building, 340. 
Snow-shoeing, 165-202. 

costume for, 171, 199. 
Snow-shoers storming the ice palace 

in Montreal, 331. 
Snow-shoes among snow-slides, 189- 
191. 
a night run on, 169, 197, 280. 
a novice on, 177. 
coasting on, 194. 
construction of, 173. 
crossing fences on, 169, 193. 
hunting on, 179, 188. 
in Spain, 175. 
Montreal Snow-shoe Club, songs of, 

170, 201. 
Quebec Snow-shoe Club, 168. 
storming an ice fort on, 199. 
the key to the winter forest, 165- 

167, 193. 
types of, 175. 
Snow-snakes of the American Indians, 

321. 
Speed-intoxication, 265. 



Speed, the feature of modern winter 
sports, 1, 4, 11, 269, 274, 277, 334. 

Stanley Cup, the trophy of Canadian 
ice hockey, no, 113. 

Su-ha sticks, 323. 

Tailing, 251. 

Telemarken, the skiing resort, 212, 220, 
246. 

the smalslcede of, 308. 
Toboggan, a home-made, 256. 

manufactured, 254. 

the primitive, 254. 
Toboggan chute, 254, 259, 262-265. 
Tobogganing, 247-278. 

as a sport, 259. 

at Ardsley-on-Hudson, 264. 

by moonlight in Switzerland, 275. 

in Montreal, 259-261. 

on a Swiss glacier, 270. 

Winter, King, in his city home, 279. 
Winter sports, centres of, 2, 7, 109. 
Wooden wings of Norway, 203. 



3i]-7?»2 



